A nation yawns. Or it would, if it could summon the enthusiasm.

Thursday’s contest at Jacobs Field (first pitch, 5 p.m. PT) features a rematch of Game 1 starters and leading Cy Young candidates C.C. Sabathia and Josh Beckett. For Boston, the equation is simple: win or go home for the winter.

For the Indians, it’s more like win or go to Boston’s home for two more games. I’m thinking they’d prefer Door #1.

The Red Sox pounded Sabathia in the series opener. Could that happen again? Sure, but they’d best not count on it. Time for Beckett to pitch the game of his life…

Post from: Knuckle Curve

Red Sox: $143.0
Angels: $109.3

Indians: $61.7
Yankees: $189.6

Diamondbacks: $52.1
Cubs: $99.7

Rockies: $54.4
Phillies: $89.4

If you’d seeded the playoff teams by money spent on salary, here’s what it would have looked like:

1. Yankees
2. Red Sox
3. Angels
4. Cubs
5. Phillies
6. Indians
7. Rockies
8. Diamondbacks

Three of the four teams from the bottom half have advanced the LCS. One of the two smallest salaried teams in the dance is guaranteed to reach the World Series. I don’t really care which of them makes it, although I have a slight preference for the Rockies because they’ve never been there before and I think they’re the better team.

On the other side, I continue to pull for the Indians. Hey, if they can knock off $190 million, $143 million should be piece of cake, right?

Post from: Knuckle Curve

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

American League

• Mariners at Orioles, 4:05 p.m. PT — How are the Mariners doing it? Ichiro Suzuki, Adrian Beltre, and Jose Guillen all are having decent (not great) seasons on offense. The starting pitching has been okay. The relief pitching has been pretty darned good. They score about as many runs as they give up, and yet, they’re a game out of the AL wild card. Felix Hernandez starts tonight, which is always a good reason to watch. The Orioles, who as usual are going nowhere fast, counter with Jeremy Guthrie, one of the neater success stories of 2007. A former first-round pick of the Cleveland Indians, Guthrie never could stick with the big club, and Baltimore claimed the 27-year-old right-hander off waivers in January. Guthrie now ranks third in the AL in ERA.
• Yankees at Blue Jays, 4:07 p.m. PT — While nobody was paying attention, the Yankees became a serious player in the wild card race. They’re now a half-game back of Detroit. Chien-Ming Wang, who continues to succeed despite his inability to miss bats, starts for New York. A-Rod gets most of the ink out that way, but have you noticed how well Jorge Posada is doing this year (.340/.423/.546)? That’s unbelievable production from a 35-year-old catcher. (Mike Piazza hit .266/.362/.444 at the same age.) Right-hander Roy Halladay gets the call for Toronto.
• Red Sox at Angels, 7:05 p.m. PT — The teams with the two best records in the AL square off at Anaheim. The pitching matchup (Jon Lester vs Dustin Moseley) is pretty uninspiring, but still. I sometimes wonder just how good the Red Sox would be if they had a legitimate big-league shortstop. The Angels, meanwhile, are unbelievably consistent up and down the lineup. With the exception of Vlad Guerrero and the emerging Casey Kotchman, nobody here really stands out. Well, maybe Chone Figgins. Point is, they’re solid #1 through #9.

National League

• Brewers at Rockies, 12:05 p.m. PT — Two of the younger and more suprising teams in the NL hook up in this one. Top prospect Yovani Gallardo goes for the Brewers, who are clinging to a one-game lead over Chicago in the NL Central. Prince Fielder tops the Senior Circuit with 33 homers, while third baseman Ryan Braun has emerged as the front-runner for Rookie of the Year. Southpaw Jeff Franics gets the start for Colorado. Francis currently sports a 4.01 ERA, no small accomplishment for a guy who works half his games at Coors Field. In one of my more outlandish predictions for the season, I said that Francis would finish in the top 10 in ERA. Right now he’s at #24. In my defense, a lot more pitchers have sub-4.00 ERAs this year (23) than did last season (15).
• Braves at Mets, 4:10 p.m. PT — The top two teams in the NL East do battle in New York, and we’ve got a great pitching matchup. John Smoltz is a future Hall of Famer, while Orlando Hernandez is pitching as well as he has since his rookie season back in ‘98. The Braves are getting production out of some unexpected sources (Matt Diaz? Willie Harris?), which compensates for the fact that Andruw Jones has become the weak link in their outfield. The Mets? Oh, what I wouldn’t do to see that left side of the infield call San Diego home.
• Cubs at Astros, 5:05 p.m. PT — Carlos Zambrano is on fire. Not literally, of course, but he is 9-2 with a 1.43 ERA over his last 12 starts; Zambrano has lowered his season ERA from 5.38 to 3.42 during that stretch. Roy Oswalt? His usual troublesome self. He’s completely dominant at home (2.30 ERA over 14 starts; opponents are batting .239/.293/.339 against him there). For Chicago, one of their big three on offense (Alfonso Soriano) is out with a bad quad. The Astros, meanwhile, get to watch $100 million man Carlos Lee pad his personal stats for a team that is almost certainly out of contention, even in baseball’s weakest division.

If I had to pick one game to watch, it’d be the Braves and Mets. That’s your best combination of pennant race and pitching matchup. Enjoy!

Post from: Knuckle Curve

But I’ll give it a shot anyway.

In Clemens’ big-league debut, on May 15, 1984, he faced the Cleveland Indians and got a no-decision. Clemens didn’t pitch particularly well, but he played alongside or against a Hall of Famer (Wade Boggs), the father of a current big leaguer (Tony Armas), a front-office staffer (Reid Nichols), a field manager (Mike Hargrove), and… wait for it… Julio Franco!

I love Franco. That dude will survive a nuclear holocaust.

Wait, this post was supposed to be about Clemens. Oh well…

Post from: Knuckle Curve

It’s interesting in light of the Padres’ recent signing of Chris Young to note the tradeoffs a team will make between consistency and excellence. Here’s a quick look at how Young and Westbrook have fared since the former first reached the big leagues in August 2004:

 
Young is 20 months younger and a more dominant pitcher. And yet, his contract extension is one year longer than Westbrook’s, at less than half the overall amount.

I don’t mean to diss Westbrook, who certainly has value, but what am I missing here? The only thing I can figure is that maybe he gets extra credit for his flukish 3.38 ERA in 2004.

Post from: Knuckle Curve