American League

• Mariners at Yankees, 4:05 p.m. PT — I’m contractually obligated to pimp the Yankees game, because no-one else will. Philip Hughes gets the start for New York. He’s coughed up five runs in each of his past three starts, but whatever. Outfielder Wladimir Balentien is up for Seattle. In addition to the great name, Balentien has some of the sickest power I’ve seen in the minors. Dude hit some serious shots when he was in the California League. Big kid.
• Orioles at Devil Rays, 4:10 p.m. PT — Dude, don’t actually watch this one. I just couldn’t resist including Radhames Liz and Andy Sonnanstine in this post. And now that I think of it, B.J. Upton is worth watching, as is the inexplicably resurgent Carlos Pena.

National League

• Dodgers at Cubs, 5:05 p.m. PT — Eric Stults takes the mound for LA. I loved him in Fast Times at Ridgemont High (some jokes never get old, they’re just lame to begin with). On the other side, Ted Lilly gets the call against his former employer. Lilly never made it to the big club, but he was drafted by the Dodgers back in ‘96. Lilly also was part of a July 2002 trade that included the aforementioned Pena. The Tigers ended up with Pena and Jeremy Bonderman, the A’s got Lilly, and the Yankees drew the short straw, er, I mean Jeff Weaver.
• Pirates at Cardinals, 5:10 p.m. PT — Mark Mulder makes his 2007 debut for St. Louis, bringing new meaning to the term “fashionably late.” As was the case in ‘06, the Cardinals find themselves in the thick of a pennant race despite being a .500 ballclub. Yippee for them. Rick Ankiel continues to defy logic by being a productive everyday outfielder. He’s even destroying lefties. It’s a small sample, but how could would that be if Ankiel ends up having a decent big-league career after all? Russell Branyan also somehow has found his way to St. Louis. Elvis is everywhere? No, Russell is everywhere.
• Padres at Diamondbacks, 6:40 p.m. PT — Jake Peavy, Livan Hernandez, battle for supremacy in the NL West, etc.

One game? As usual, I’m partial to San Diego/Arizona. Happy watching!

Post from: Knuckle Curve

• Tigers at Yankees, 10:05 a.m. PT — Jeremy Bonderman and Chien-Ming Wang hook up here. The Tigers are 10-20 over their past 30 games, while the Yankees are 20-10. It’s a testament to New York’s offense that this team is in a pennant race despite having only 3 1/2 starting pitchers.
• Angels at Red Sox, 11:05 a.m. PT — Speaking of testament to offense, Boston keeps winning despite the presence of Julian Tavarez in its rotation. Tavarez had a great rookie season for the Indians back in ‘95 as a reliever, and pitched well for St. Louis in the same capacity in ‘04, but he is not big-league starting material. Opponents are batting .347/.404/.531 against him in innings 4-6 this season. Ouch. Tavarez is opposed by lefty Joe Saunders.
• Diamondbacks at Braves, 10:05 a.m. PT — Arizona is unstoppable. The Diamondbacks have won 22 of their last 30 games and extended their NL West lead to five games over San Diego. Rookie Yusmeiro Petit, who has been shelled in each of his previous two starts, gets the call against future Hall-of-Famer John Smoltz.
• Rockies at Dodgers, 1:10 p.m. PT — Jeff Francis, Brad Penny… Two division rivals clinging to wild card hopes… Sounds like a good time to me.

And those are your games for a Sunday. Happy watching!

Post from: Knuckle Curve

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 Tuesday night’s starter, Aaron Harang, deserves some kind of medal for posting an 11-3 record on a team with a .427 winning percentage. Carlos Zambrano goes for the Cubs, who continue to pursue the Brewers for NL Central supremacy. Did I say “supremacy”? That’s probably too strong a word, but you get the idea.
• Rockies at Padres, 7:05 p.m. PT — Another fun pennant battle showdown, this time in the NL West. Jeff Francis and Greg Maddux face off in this one. If you enjoy watching pitchers who rely on hitting their spots, you could do a lot worse than watch these two guys. For those interested, I’ve got a more detailed preview of the entire series over at Ducksnorts.

One game? I’ll go with Colorado and San Diego, but I’m biased. If Bonderman is on his game, the Tigers and Indians could be a lot of fun to watch. Enjoy!

Post from: Knuckle Curve

American League

• Devil Rays at Tigers, 10:05 a.m. PT — Yeah, the Rays are a crap team going nowhere fast, but they have some terrific young talent, and Scott Kazmir vs Jeremy Bonderman is a fun pitching matchup.

National League

• Braves at Mets, 9:10 a.m. PT — As was the case on Wednesday when these two teams hooked up at Shea, we have a game with potential playoff implications and a great matchup. Tim Hudson is pitching better than he has at any point since 2003, the last time he garnered any support for the Cy Young Award, while John Maine has enjoyed a serious coming-out party this year. Did the Orioles really give up this guy to get Kris Benson? Yuck.

Once again, my choice would be Braves and Mets. Yesterday’s game was a dandy, and today should be no different.

Post from: Knuckle Curve

With that pathetic attempt at wit out of the way, here’s what we’re keeping an eye on today:

American League

• Orioles at Tigers, 4:05 p.m. PT – Young? Check. Throws hard? Check. Okay, then, I guess we’ll watch Daniel Cabrera and Jeremy Bonderman square off at Comerica Park. You know about Bonderman, but Cabrera seems to be figuring things out in his second season under the tutelage of Leo Mazzone. A guy with Cabrera’s stuff can sacrifice a little in the way of missing bats and still be pretty darned effective.
• Rangers at Blue Jays, 4:07 p.m. PT – What’s up with these “:07″ start times? Anyway, Roy Halladay is pitching for Toronto, and you don’t really need a reason to watch that. Vicente Padilla goes for Texas. Did I mention that Halladay is pitching?

National League

• Cubs at Pirates, 4:05 p.m. PT – Chicago southpaw Rich Hill has been unhittable in the early going. Cubs fans have been waiting a long time for him to emerge as a front-line starter, and now they are being rewarded for their patience. On the other side, Zach Duke has gotten off to a slow start this season. I’m not sure which is worse, the fact that he has just 6 strikeouts in 26 innings or that 5 of those strikeouts came in one game; take that game away, and he’s fanned 1 batter in 20 innings.
• Nationals at Padres, 7:05 p.m. PT – Jake Peavy is off to a tremendous start. He struck out 16 batters in his last start. John Patterson goes for Washington. He’s still looking to recapure the form that made him so successful in 2005. Remember when Patterson and Brad Penny were up-and-comers in the Diamondbacks organization? That seems like decades ago.
• Diamondbacks at Dodgers, 7:10 p.m. PT – Speaking of the Snakes, the always dangerous Brandon Webb starts for them tonight in Los Angeles. The somewhat less dangerous Randy Wolf goes for the Dodgers, who lead Arizona by a half-game in the NL West.

If I had to pick one game to watch, it’d be Baltimore and Detroit. Get the dirt on the O’s over at Oriole Post. Find out more about the Tigers at (holy shmoly there’s lots of good blogs) Detroit Tigers Weblog, Tiger Tales, TigerBlog, and Mack Avenue Tigers. Enjoy!

Post from: Knuckle Curve

American League

• Tigers at Blue Jays, 4:07 p.m. PT – Jeremy Bonderman and Roy Halladay? Hello! These two faced each other on Opening Day in Detroit. The Blue Jays won that game, with neither starter figuring in the decision. Also, what’s up with Toronto’s offense? The Jays are hitting .304/.371/.492 as a team. Pretty much everyone except Lyle Overbay and Reed Johnson is contributing. Aaron Hill? I know it’s only nine games, but still…
• Devil Rays at Twins, 5:10 p.m. PT – Scott Kazmir battles Johan Santana in this one. After years of mismanagement (Bobby Abreu for Kevin Stocker — great idea there), Tampa Bay is starting to assemble some serious young talent. No, they still don’t have any pitching beyond Kazmir, but Rocco Baldelli, Carl Crawford, Elijah Dukes, B.J. Upton, and Delmon Young makes for a nice (and potentially volatile) offensive core. This could be a team worth following over the next several years.
• Yankees at A’s, 7:05 p.m. PT – Do you suppose it eats at George Steinbrenner that Kei Igawa hasn’t gotten off to the start that Daisuke Matsuzaka has in Boston? Yeah, I’m thinking it probably does. Igawa faces Dan Haren in Oakland. The A’s right now are sort of the anti-Blue Jays. They’re hitting like a utility infielder (.239/.306/.326). The only guy doing anything is Mike “I’m Still Not Washed Up Yet, So Stop Writing Me Off” Piazza. As for the Yankees, they get enough coverage elsewhere so I won’t talk about them.

National League

• Reds at Cubs, 11:20 a.m. PT – This game probably will keep me from doing my taxes today (yeah, I know I should’ve done them a long time ago). Aaron Harang faces Carlos Zambrano in the Friendly Confines. Bummer about the Cubs’ 3-5 start. Gotta believe their fans were hoping for more after that winter shopping spree. Fortunately for the Tribune Company, which is trying to sell the club, on-field performance doesn’t seem to affect the franchise’s value. Fans, it appears, will put up with pretty much anything after all these years. Meanwhile, Zambrano is walking guys and serving up home runs. That’s not a good combination.
• Astros at Phillies, 4:05 p.m. PT – Roy Oswalt squares off against Brett Myers. Holy smokes, Jimmy Rollins already has five home runs? That’s nuts. Pat Burrell is hitting .323/.462/.484 in the early going. Are they still booing him in Philly? On the other side, Oswalt was my pre-season pick for NL Cy Young. I made that prediction under the assumption that someone other than Adam Everett and Luke Scott would be leading the offensive charge. Yikes, how is this team even scoring three runs a game right now?
• Brewers at Cardinals, 5:10 p.m. PT – The focus is on Ben Sheets, as well it should be, but Anthony Reyes is no slouch himself. This has the potential to be a fantastic matchup. Plus you get to watch that insane collection of young talent that is the Brewers. Rickie Weeks (.242/.375/.606) is off to a terrific start and hasn’t even committed an error in 77 innings (he averaged one every 36 innings last season).

There you have it. Play ball!

Post from: Knuckle Curve

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 an unusual career its been, too. I wonder if any other pitcher has won 24 games in a season (1996) while also failing to win any games over a stretch of two straight years (2003-04). If he hadn’t spent four seasons as a dominating closer, Smoltz would be closing in on 250 right about now.
• Cubs at Reds, 11:10 a.m. PT – Time to see what all the Cubs’ off-season acquisitions can do. Carlos Zambrano gets the call for Chicago, and he’ll face last year’s NL strikeout king, Aaron Harang. If you like to watch guys swing and miss, this one’s for you.

American League

• Blue Jays at Tigers, 10:05 a.m. PT – Roy Halladay goes for Toronto, while the defending AL champs send Jeremy Bonderman to the mound. Halladay already has a Cy Young Award under his belt, and Bonderman could be a contender before too long. All his ratios are headed in the right direction, and he’s just 24 years old. What’s not to like?
• Red Sox at Royals, 1:05 p.m. PT – The Gil Meche era begins in Kansas City. I keep looking at his numbers to see what I’m missing, but I can’t find anything. No matter how I slice it, he still looks like a #3 or #4 starter to me. Anyway, the guy to watch in this one is the Royals’ rookie third baseman, Alex Gordon. If it weren’t for the fact that MLB considers Daisuke Matsuzaka a rookie, Gordon would be the odds-on favorite for AL Rookie of the Year. As it is, he’s still my pick.
• Orioles at Twins, 4:05 p.m. PT – What, you need an excuse to watch Johan Santana pitch?

Those are your games for Monday. If you can catch just one, I’d go with the Halladay/Bonderman matchup in Detroit. That should be fun. Enjoy!

Post from: Knuckle Curve