American League

• Blue Jays at Red Sox, 4:05 p.m. PT — Blue and red, birds and items of clothing, two really good pitchers. This game has it all. Roy Halladay’s been kicking butt for several years now, ever since he reinvented himself in 2001, but what’s gotten into Josh Beckett? I know he’s always had the stuff; now, gulp, he’s actually using it. Walks down, strikeouts up, keeping the ball in the yard, entering his prime. That’s a little frightening, no?
• Mariners at Yankees, 4:05 p.m. PT — I don’t like watching pitchers who can’t throw the ball past guys, but this one’s got playoff implications. I’ll set the over/under on total number of strikeouts in this game at 11, mainly because I expect Seattle’s bullpen to get a lot of work in support of Horacio Ramirez. Also, Ichiro Suzuki, probably this generation’s best example of how it is possible to be both great and overrated, has now recorded at least 200 hits in each of his first seven big-league seasons.

National League

• Dodgers at Cubs, 5:05 p.m. PT — One of these two teams likely will reach the playoffs. Thanks to divisional alignments, it probably won’t be the better team. Steve Trachsel — he of the historically bad K/BB ratio — gets the start for Chicago, which is almost reason enough not to watch this game.
• Padres at Diamondbacks, 6:40 p.m. PT — Yeah, I’m calling this one again. It’s the tightest race in baseball right now. Was a time when Chris Young was automatic, but he’s 0-2 with a 5.48 ERA over his past four starts after opening the season at 9-3, 1.82. Control has been a problem since he missed a couple starts due to oblique and back injuries. Young is averaging 6.33 walks per 9 innings over those last four starts. Doug “The Most Average Pitcher in Baseball” Davis (74-74 career record, 104 ERA+) goes for Arizona, which seeks to reclaim a share of first place in the NL West.

One game? Toronto at Boston features the best pitching matchup, while San Diego at Arizona has the biggest playoff implications. Hey, why limit yourself to one game — watch ‘em both!

Post from: Knuckle Curve

American League

• Red Sox at Yankees, 10:05 a.m. PT — This series doesn’t need any more hype. Either you love it or you don’t care. Watch (or don’t) accordingly.
• Mariners at Indians, 4:05 p.m. PT — Playoff implications in this one, plus a potentially volatile pitching matchup. Two finesse lefties — the execrable Horacio Ramirez and the too-unknown-to-have-an-unflattering-adjective-attached-to-the-front-of-his-name Aaron Laffey — hook up in this one. Philosophical question for the day: When does batting practice end and game begin?

National League

• Mets at Phillies, 10:05 a.m. PT — We’re all anxious to know whether Philadelphia can reach the post-season with two guys named Kyle in the rotation. Orlando Hernandez goes for the Mets. Your grandkids will be telling you about him one day.
• Diamondbacks at Padres, 7:05 p.m. PT — The preview says that Livan Hernandez is pitching for Arizona, but he started on Monday; it’s actually left-hander Doug Davis. San Diego counters with Chris Young, who missed his previous start due to a bad back. These two teams find themselves in a virtual tie for first place in the NL West with a month to go. The Padres are one game up in the loss column.

As you know by now, I’m very biased, but I honestly believe that the NL West race is the most compelling in baseball right now. It certainly is the closest. If you have to choose one game to watch, I recommend Arizona vs San Diego, although the Mariners and Indians could be “interesting” — any chance they could get that game moved to Coors Field?

As always, happy watching…

Post from: Knuckle Curve

Some great games on Monday’s schedule, including four big playoff contender showdowns:

American League

• Yankees at Tigers, 4:05 p.m. PT — Mike Mussina and Justin Verlander hook up at Comerica Park. Mussina has given up seven runs in each of his last two starts and now sports a 5.22 ERA on the season. It might not be time to stick a fork in him just yet, but maybe someone should poke around a little. Yikes, and now I see that Verlander’s ERA over his past seven starts is 5.95. The Tigers have lost 20 of their last 30? Ugh, that’s not good.
• Angels at Mariners, 7:05 p.m. PT — John Lackey goes against Miguel Batista. Looks like a mismatch, until you realize that Seattle leads the wild card despite 61 starts from the likes of Batista, Jeff Weaver, and Horacio Ramirez. I have to admit, as much as I want the Padres to win it all this year, there’s a part of me that wouldn’t mind seeing a Seattle/Arizona World Series because, seriously, what’s up with that?

National League

• Mets at Phillies, 4:05 p.m. PT — Terrible pitching matchup in a bandbox park. Citizens Bank Park isn’t the most conducive to scoring runs, but no other park in baseball is as generous when it comes to giving up the long ball. San Diego’s Terrmel Sledge hit a pop up to left on Saturday night that just kept carrying and somehow left the yard. Brett Myers may have acted like an idiot, but he also made a good point, which is that his home park is a little ridiculous.
• Diamondbacks at Padres, 7:05 p.m. PT — Jake Peavy needs one strikeout to pass Andy Benes as San Diego’s all-time strikeouts leader. Only once in his career — June 22, 2003, against Seattle — has Peavy failed to punch out at least one batter. I’m liking his chances. And, of course, three games separate these two teams atop the NL West.

Happy watching!

Post from: Knuckle Curve

American League

• Mariners at Twins, 5:10 p.m. PT — How in the world can Horacio Ramirez have a 7-4 record despite a 7.38 ERA? If his performance doesn’t convince you that won-loss record is a terrible way to evaluate starting pitchers, then nothing will. Opponents are batting .341/.407/.518 against the southpaw; that’s roughly what Joe Mauer did last year. Right-hander Matt Garza (2-3, 2.05 ERA) starts for Minnesota.
• Yankees at Angels, 7:05 p.m. PT — New York has won 21 of its last 30 and is now just four games back of Boston in the AL East. The Angels are up by two games in the AL West. Two young pitchers, Philip Hughes and Dustin Moseley, face each other in this one. Both have been brilliant at times but, as you might expect, very inconsistent. Both lineups are stacked, too, and the pitchers will have their hands full.

National League

• Brewers at Diamondbacks, 6:40 p.m. PT — After leading the NL Central for much of the season, Milwaukee has slipped behind the Cubs into second place. Rookie Yovani Gallardo gets the call for the Brewers. He’s allowed 18 runs over 8 1/3 innings covering his previous two starts. Milwaukee features MVP candidate Prince Fielder and ROY favorite Ryan Braun on offense. Veteran lefty Doug Davis gets the start for Arizona against his old team. Davis is 10-10 this year, after going 11-11 each of the past two seasons, and 12-12 the year before that. Weird.

One game: Yankees at Anaheim. It’s the most compelling pitching matchup and has the most playoff implications. Happy watching…

Post from: Knuckle Curve