• Dodgers at Diamondbacks, 12:40 p.m. PT — Hiroki Kuroda looked outstanding in his North American debut. I expected the funky delivery that is characteristic of pitchers who come over from Japan, but the velocity caught me by surprise. He was pumping 93-mph fastballs against the Padres. Micah Owings gets the call for Arizona. He dominated the Rockies in his first start of ‘08 (although he only went 1-for-4 at the plate, LOL). Wasn’t there talk that the Snakes might stick Owings in the field at some point? I think that’s crazy, but it would be pretty cool — you know, in the same way that handlebar moustaches are cool.
• Reds at Brewers, 5:05 p.m. PT — Like offense? Josh Fogg and David Bush hook up at Miller Park. The lineups will include guys like Ryan Braun, Adam Dunn, Prince Fielder, and Ken Griffey Jr. I’m going to set the over/under on home runs at seven.
• Yankees at Royals, 5:10 p.m. PT — Two promising young pitchers square off in this one. Zack Greinke seems to have gotten his career back on track, while Ian Kennedy is still trying to figure out how the Rays beat the snot out of him last week. The Royals are 5-2. Heck, the Orioles are 6-1. And people say the world isn’t going to hell in a handbasket.

Rock on, my peeps…

Post from: Knuckle Curve

• The Mets beat the Marlins, 7-2. The planet’s best pitcher against a Triple-A squad — who could’ve have anticipated such a result? Uh, everyone.
• The Pittsburgh/Atlanta game was insane. The Pirates took a 9-4 lead into the bottom of the ninth, but the Braves tied. Then the Bucs jumped ahead in the 12th, 12-9, before allowing two runs in the bottom half and hanging on for a 12-11 victory. Xavier Nady, whom I’ve been following since he took home Cal League MVP honors in 2001 while playing for a great Lake Elsinore Storm club (Peavy and Mets left-hander Oliver Perez also played on that team, which went 91-49), knocked two homers, including the game winner.
• The Giants really stink. Good thing they’re paying Barry Zito all that money.
• The Brewers and Cubs ran a clinic on how not to close a game. Locked in a scoreless tie headed to the ninth, Milwaukee plated three runs in the top half off “closer” Kerry Wood, then watched “closer” Eric Gagne cough up three of his own in the bottom half. The Brewers scored in the top of the 10th and hung on to win, 4-3. Who got credit for the victory? The least deserving guy in the ballpark, of course: Gagne. The next time someone tries to tell you that a pitcher is good because of his won-loss record, remind them that the rules dictating how a win is “earned” don’t necessarily correlate with actually contributing to victory.
• Break up the Nationals. With Monday’s 11-6 drubbing of Philadelphia, they’re assured of finishing no worse than 2-160 this year.
• Livan Hernandez pitched well in his Twins debut. Actually, for all the grief Minnesota took in signing him, he matched Johan Santana’s line — two runs in seven innings — and got the win. Not that he’ll keep pace with Santana beyond, oh, right about now, but still…
• The White Sox seem to be a sexy dark horse candidate this season, but I just don’t see it. By my count, they’ve got about three or four good pitchers, depending on whether you believe Octavio Dotel can stay of the disabled list. One of them (Mark Buehrle) got absolutely pounded at Cleveland. Granted, the Indians will do that to a pitcher, but if the White Sox can’t win behind Buehrle, then what are they going to do when, say, Gavin Floyd toes the slab?

Good times, my friends. Good times…

Post from: Knuckle Curve

Yorvitize – v. To publicly announce a contract signing as done and then go back on the announcement.

Here it is in a sentence:

Man, I’ll bet Phillies fans are bummed that their deal with J.C. Romero didn’t get Yorvitized.

Anyway.

The Brewers have inked Mike Cameron to a 1-year, $7 million deal that was finalized Monday. The 35-year-old center fielder, who spent the past two seasons with the San Diego Padres, will miss the first 25 games of 2008 while serving a suspension for testing positive for a banned substance.

Brewers GM Doug Melvin praised Cameron for his on-field skills and clubhouse leadership abilities. Cameron and his agent, Mike Nicotera, meanwhile, must be wondering what happened to the long-term deal they were seeking earlier.

It’s called misreading the market. Ask Jody Reed about that sometime…

Post from: Knuckle Curve

Nats and Yankees trade –
Clippard, Albaladejo,
anonymous arms

Cincy trades Buck Coats
to Blue Jays for Justin James –
who are these people?

Cards drop Taguchi –
they are So over that guy,
you wouldn’t believe

Padres sell Terrmel
to Japan’s Pacific League,
where he will fight ham

(Yes, I know, but don’t ruin the joke.)

Brewers sign Riske
to a big three-year contract –
seems kind of risky

(Ugh, they’re getting worse.)

Cincy waives Cantu –
I sure can understand why
they did that, can’t you?

(Seriously, this is terrible.)

Nationals sign Boone –
Aaron, the old third baseman,
is still in the league!

Bucs drop Castillo –
if Pittsburgh releases you,
try a new career

Cleveland gets Carroll
from Colorado Rockies –
I’m out of bad puns

Nats sign LoDuca –
he was real good in ‘01,
as was Kevin Brown

Pads sign Randy Wolf
to incentive-laden deal –
good for 15 starts?

Brewers sign Gagne –
now that he’s in Milwaukee,
are they beer goggles?

Post from: Knuckle Curve

Cameron Maybin and Evan Longoria at the top should come as no surprise. Several others make sense as well. One name I didn’t expect to see near the top was Matt LaPorta.

I understand that LaPorta has jaw-dropping power, but weren’t there questions about his defense? And now he’s playing the outfield because Prince Fielder is at first base in Milwaukee? Seriously, if there’s one thing the Brewers need right now, it’s another guy who can’t field his position…

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The story so far:

• AL West
• AL Central
• AL East
• NL West

Ladies and gentlemen, the least interesting division in Major League Baseball:

1. Cubs – Somebody had to win the division; it might as well be the team that spent $300 million on free agents.
2. Astros – Why did I like this team so much? Perhaps their recent track record fooled me? I’d expected more out of Morgan Ensberg and Jason Jennings. Instead, everyone got fired.
3. Cardinals – Hey, I got one right. Everything about their 2006 season seemed like a fluke to me. The Cards deserve credit for winning the World Series, but this was a team headed for a fall. Kip Wells avoided 20 losses, and Rick Ankiel is a nice story… maybe…
4. Brewers – I didn’t think they had the pitching, and in the end, I suppose they didn’t. If Ben Sheets could ever stay healthy… There’s a lot of good young talent on this team; suffice to say, I won’t be picking the Brewers to finish fourth again next year.
5. Reds – They and the Astros are battling for fourth place as I write this. What a horrendous bullpen.
6. Pirates – This is their fourth last-place finish in the last 10 years. Their best season during that stretch came in 1999, when they finished in third place with 78 wins. This franchise owes the city of Pittsburgh big time. Here’s hoping the new front office has a clue.

Not bad. I somehow mixed up Houston and Milwaukee, but otherwise did okay.

Post from: Knuckle Curve

Teams are running out of time to make their move. The AL West and Central have been decided — if not mathematically, then practically speaking. The AL East is still up for grabs, but unless you’re a fan of the Red Sox or Yankees, that’s not a particularly compelling story line seeing that the runner-up almost certainly will win the wild card.

In the National League, things are a little more interesting. The Mets continue their free fall and now are just 1 1/2 games ahead of Philadelphia in the East. The Mets head to Florida for a series with the Marlins (hopefully in front of more than 375 people), while the Phillies are in Washington to face the Nationals. Advantage? Well, someone has the opportunity to make up ground in the wild card race.

The same 1 1/2 game gap separates the Cubs from second-place Milwaukee in the Central. Chicago plays host to the Pirates, fresh off losing four straight in San Diego; the Brewers face the Braves in Atlanta. This could be a great chance for the Cubs to get some separation headed into the final week.

Out west, meanwhile, Arizona’s lead over the Padres has slipped to a half game, while the Rockies — a long shot — find themselves five out and playing excellent baseball. The Diamondbacks are at home against the stumbling Dodgers. Here in San Diego, two of the hottest teams in the National League square off in what could be the Rockies’ last grasp at a playoff shot — a tremendous run considering their extreme youth and relative inexperience.

The real question is how much pride the Dodgers will play with now that they’re essentially out of the race. If you’re a fan of the Padres or Rockies, you hope LA will come out fighting. The Dodgers have been so inconsistent that it’s impossible to say which team will show up over the weekend.

Whatever happens, we’ve got some potentially exciting matchups. Seriously, is this the best time of the season or what?

Post from: Knuckle Curve

American League

• Angels at Mariners, 1:35 p.m. PT — Division rivals, great pitching matchup (Jered Weaver vs Felix Hernandez). Most days this would be a no-brainer as the game to watch, but there are several good ones today.
• Red Sox at Yankees, 4:05 p.m. PT — Josh Beckett goes up against Roger Clemens. Advice to hitters: look for the fastball. The AL East is slipping away from the Yankees, as they are now 8 games back with 31 remaining. They’re only 2 behind Seattle in the wild card.
• Twins at Indians, 4:05 p.m. PT — Minnesota is hanging in the NL Central race, albeit just barely. They’re 6 1/2 back of Cleveland and 4 back of Detroit. This is a dream pitching matchup: Johan Santana vs C.C. Sabathia. Santana is becoming one of those guys who are trapped by their own success. “Wow, he’s only 14-9 with a 2.97 ERA? What’s wrong with him?” What’s wrong is that he’s better than everyone else, that’s all. Anyway, Sabathia is enjoying a fine season as well. What blows me away about his game is how dramatically he’s improved his control since coming into the league. As a 20-year-old rookie back in 2001, Sabathia walked 4.74 batters per 9 innings. This year he’s at 1.32. Sure, he’s more hittable, but he’s also a lot more efficient (4.10 P/PA in ‘01 compared with 3.65 in ‘07), which allows him to go deeper into games (about 7 innings per start now vs just over 5 1/3 back then).

National League

• Mets at Phillies, 4:05 p.m. PT — Don’t look now, but Philadelphia is only 5 games out of first place in the NL East. Could you find two more different left-handers than Oliver Perez and Jamie Moyer? Well, maybe Cloris Leachman and Paul McCartney, but we’re talking about pitchers here.
• Brewers at Cubs, 5:05 p.m. PT — Another fun matchup: Ben Sheets and Carlos Zambrano. Too bad Milwaukee is 16-26 since the All-Star break. The Brewers are in serious danger of being overtaken by the St. Louis Cardinals for second place in the NL Central. How very disappointing.
• Diamondbacks at Padres, 7:05 p.m. PT — After taking the first two games, San Diego is now in a position to recapture a share of first place with a victory on Wednesday. Slugger Micah Owings gets the start for Arizona, while the Padres counter with the venerable Greg Maddux.

Time for just one? You know my bias, but that Santana/Sabathia matchup has the potential to be brilliant. If I had no other attachments to any of the teams, that is the one I’d watch.

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American League

• Indians at Tigers, 4:05 p.m. PT — Just a half-game separates these AL Central rivals. Paul Byrd vs Justin Verlander looks like a mismatch, and I suppose it is. Byrd, though, is a crafty veteran with freakish control (18 walks in 143 IP). Verlander’s ERA is 4.89 in seven starts since the All-Star break. Detroit’s offense is crazy good — Magglio Ordonez is a legit MVP candidate, Gary Sheffield is having a monster year (including 20 SB for the first time since ‘98), and now phenom Cameron Maybin is up with the big club. Cleveland counters with a nice corps of young talent in Victor Martinez, Ryan Garko, Jhonny Peralta, and Grady Sizemore. These two franchises have set themselves up nicely for the next few years.
• Yankees at Angels, 7:05 p.m. PT — Anaheim has won the first two games of this series, by a combined score of 25-15. Garret Anderson drove in 10 runs during the Angels’ 18-9 win on Tuesday; that represents 20% of his RBI total on the season. Andy Pettitte and John Lackey hook up in the finale, as the Yankees look to avoid a sweep.

National League

• Dodgers at Phillies, 4:05 p.m. PT — Not a marquee pitching matchup, but that’s usually the case when the Phillies are playing. Derek Lowe got off to a fine start for the Dodgers this year, but has struggled of late (1-4, 5.06 ERA over his last seven starts). J.D. Durbin, meanwhile, has pitched surprisingly well so far in the second half (5-0, 3.12 ERA) while splitting time between the rotation and the bullpen. Ryan Howard notched his first career stolen base on Tuesday. Rudy Seanez and Russell Martin should be ashamed of themselves.
• Padres at Mets, 4:10 p.m. PT — The Padres try to put Tuesday’s late-inning meltdown behind them. Ace Jake Peavy makes his first start since making controversial comments about his future. His former teammate, Brian Lawrence, gets the call for New York. Lawrence has made three starts with the big club after missing all of 2006 due to injury.
• Brewers at Diamondbacks, 6:40 p.m. PT — Brandon Webb takes aim at Orel Hershiser’s consecutive scoreless innings streak against a potent Milwaukee lineup. Actually, Webb is 17 innings shy, so it won’t happen on Wednesday regardless. Still, 42 innings is pretty darned impressive. Everyone (myself included) talks about Prince Fielder and Ryan Braun, but Geoff Jenkins is enjoying a fine resurgence this year for the Brewers, and Corey Hart is quietly putting up some nice numbers. Something’s got to give tonight; we’ll see what it is. Oh yeah, both teams are fighting for a division title.

One game: I’ll be tuned to the Mets/Padres contest, but I have a vested interest in that one. The most compelling storyline probably is Webb vs the Brewers lineup. Happy watching…

Post from: Knuckle Curve

Post from: Knuckle Curve