Hello, playoffs! Should be some good games on Wednesday:

Rockies at Phillies, 12 noon PT — I’ve rambled at length about this series over at Hardball Times. Cole Hamels starts the opener against Jeff Francis. It’s hard to call Game 1 of any series a must-win, but the Phillies need to win behind Hamels to have any shot; the rest of their pitching staff is very suspect, and even their high-octane offense might not be able to overcome a loss today.
Angels at Red Sox, 3:30 p.m. PT — John Lackey goes up against Josh Beckett in this one. Two legitimate Cy …read more

Wednesday? Must be a full schedule. Let’s jump right in…
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 …read more

FOX Sports reports that the Cubs have signed right-hander Carlos Zambrano to a 5-year, $91.5 million contract extension (tip o’ the Knuckle Curve cap to David at Baseball Musings). On the one hand, $18 million a year is a bit much for a pitcher. On the other, that’s what the Giants are paying Barry Zito.
Of course, there are differences between Zambrano and Zito. The most important are:

Zambrano is three years younger.
Zambrano’s contract is two years shorter.
Zambrano is a much better pitcher. He’s having an off-year, but it’s still better than anything Zito has done since 2003.

I guess the real take-home …read more

Let’s see what’s on tap today, shall we…
American League

Tigers at Indians, 4:05 p.m. PT — A showdown between two teams tied for first in the AL Central come mid-August? Two outstanding young pitchers (Jeremy Bonderman, C.C. Sabathia)? Dude, you are so all over this one. Here’s the thing I don’t understand about Bonderman: How can he possibly have a 4.75 ERA? Ah, here it is: Since the All-Star break, opponents are batting .344/.379/.603 against him. The kid’s got great stuff, though; someone should be able to fix that.

National League

Reds at Cubs, 5:05 p.m. PT — The Reds are done, but …read more

The Atlanta offense has woken up in a big way of late. The Braves are leading Carlos Zambrano and the Cubs, 7-1, in the fifth inning. Most of the damage has been done here in the fifth. Some defensive lapses by the Cubs followed by a string of very hittable pitches thrown by Zambrano have made this game ugly in a hurry.
Update: Zambrano crossed up his catcher, Michael Barrett, on a pitch in that inning. After Zambrano finally retired the side, the TBS cameras caught Zambrano and Barrett fighting in the Cubs dugout. Nice…

This is more like it. We’ve got a full schedule of good pitching matchups on Friday. Here are some of the better ones:

Really. That is a terrible headline, and I do apologize. I’m still in spring training. Time to put that behind me and get serious.
Okay, then. Lots of games to watch today. When you’ve been waiting this long, I’d venture to say they’re all worth checking out, but here are a few in particular that have piqued my interest:
National League

Braves at Phillies, 10:05 a.m. PT – Take the day off, slap together some breakfast, and watch John Smoltz battle Brett Myers. Sounds like a good plan to me. Smoltz needs just 7 more wins to reach 200 for his career. What …read more