• 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 Young contenders. Lackey is 4-1 with a 1.92 ERA over his last seven starts. Small sample, but I love that he’s averaging 7 1/3 innings per start over that stretch. David Ortiz had a monster second half (.352/.458/.695) for Boston. Geez, the Red Sox as a team outscored opponents by 121 runs after the All-Star break. That’s sort of disgusting.
• Cubs at Diamondbacks, 7 p.m. PT — Chicago and its $300 million winter shopping spree squeak into the playoffs, while Arizona looks to become the second team ever (’87 Twins) to win the World Series despite having a negative run differential during the regular season. Carlos Zambrano and perennial Cy Young candidate Brandon Webb hook up in the opener. Both of these teams have better pitching staffs than you might realize. The question is whether any of the Diamondbacks bats come to life in October. These are certainly not the best two teams in the postseason, but they are well matched and in some respects, this might be the most fascinating series.

There you go. Happy watching…

Post from: Knuckle Curve

American League

• Mariners at Tigers, 4:05 p.m. PT — Both teams are three games back of the Yankees in the AL wild card race. Miguel “Don’t Let the Career-High 13 Wins Fool You” Batista faces Justin Verlander. Whatever happened to Brandon Inge, anyway? That guy was good for, like, 5 minutes.
• Indians at Angels, 7:05 p.m. PT — First off, we should rename these teams “Europeans” and “Animal Spirits.” Second, why did Cleveland sign Jake Westbrook to a huge contract extension in April? The new Bill Wegman was really good in 2004, but otherwise has been a league-average pitcher. The Angels counter with John Lackey.

National League

• Cubs at Pirates, 4:05 p.m. PT — The Pirates are going nowhere, but Tom Gorzelanny is an exciting young pitcher. The 24-year-old left-hander has scuffled a bit since the All-Star break, but 13 wins on a bad Pittsburgh team is impressive. Another intriguing southpaw, Rich Hill, goes for the Cubs. Jose Bautista is having a decent season at third base for the Pirates, but it’s hard not to wonder how different that franchise might be right now if it hadn’t given away Aramis Ramirez, who has been a force in Chicago ever since. Hey, at least the Bucs got Bobby Hill in the deal. Nobody can take that away from them. Nobody.
• Padres at Rockies, 6:05 p.m. PT — Justin Germano averages 5.70 K/9 for his career. Elmer Dessens checks in at 5.44. Hmmm, good hitters making contact at Coors Field? Dessens is pitching for his fourth team over the past two seasons. Wow, he must be really coveted.
• Cardinals at Diamondbacks, 6:40 p.m. PT — Have you noticed how good Adam Wainwright has been in the second half? Try 6-2, 2.43 ERA, 3-to-1 K/BB ratio good. I think it’s safe to say that Wainwright’s re-adjustment to a starting role is complete. He’ll face perennial Cy Young candidate Brandon Webb on Friday.

One game? Go with Wainwright/Webb. That has a chance to be fantastic. 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

• Angels at Red Sox, 4:05 p.m. PT — This is the second game of a day-night doubleheader and features not only the AL’s two best teams but also a matchup of Cy Young contenders John Lackey and Josh Beckett. If you like offense, you might also want to tune into the first game, which starts at 10:05 a.m. PT. Ervin Santana goes for the Angels. Opponents are batting .341/.416/.626 against Santana away from Anaheim. That’s roughly 2000-2002 era Vlad Guerrero.

National League

• Diamondbacks at Braves, 4:35 p.m. PT — Playoff implications, Cy Young award candidate, and… um… Lance Cormier. Okay, forget that last one. Arizona is a remarkable 27-16 in 1-run games this year. People keep trying to write off the Snakes, but it’s not going to happen. Brandon Webb is enjoying another fantastic season. He should have more than 12 wins the way he’s been pitching. I still shudder to think what the Diamondbacks are capable of doing if they ever get consistent production out of anyone in their lineup. Facing Cormier, who has allowed eight (!) home runs in 12 2/3 innings this season might help.

One game: Duh, Lackey and Beckett…

[Update: Lackey ended up starting Game 1 and got shelled. The Red Sox jumped out to a 7-1 lead, and it's now 7-4 in the sixth. If they can hang onto win, you've got to like their chances for the sweep with Beckett going up against Santana.]

Post from: Knuckle Curve