I don’t even know what that headline means. Anyway, here are some of the more interesting games for Friday:
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 …read more

I hope you had an excellent baseball weekend. I’ve got no complaints. Well, that’s not entirely true, but you didn’t come here for those.
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 …read more

What are we watching? Whatever FOX wants us to watch, of course.
Unfortunately, two of the three games they’re offering on Saturday (12:30 p.m. PT) are complete dogs. Dodgers at Cardinals? Eh, mild playoff implications there. Pirates at Giants. Ooh, the battle for — what’s the opposite of supremacy? — in the NL Central and West, respectively. With luck, you’ll get the Red Sox at Orioles. This still isn’t the best game on tap (that would be Dan Haren and the A’s at Detroit, which counters with Justin Verlander), but at least Josh Beckett is pitching.
My recommendation? The Tigers …read more

Detroit Tigers right-hander Justin Verlander spun a no-hitter Tuesday night against the Milwaukee Brewers. Yep, he shut down the likes of J.J. Hardy, Prince Fielder, and Geoff Jenkins for a full nine innings. Walked Bill Hall all three times, but hey, a guy’s got to know his limitations.
Verlander fanned 12 batters on the night. You know how many pitches he threw? 112. That’s sick.
Another thing that’s sick is Verlander’s improvement this season. He was outstanding as a rookie, but check this out:

Justin Verlander, 2006 vs 2007

Year
Age
IP/GS
ERA+
H/9
HR/9
BB/9
K/9

Stats are through games of June 12, 2007, and are courtesy of Baseball-Reference.

2006
23
6.20
125
9.05
1.02
2.90
6.00

2007
24
6.46
156
6.96
0.75
3.21
7.29

Talk about nice …read more

We’ve got a light schedule on Monday, with some surprisingly good pitching matchups:
American League

Royals at Tigers, 4:05 p.m. PT – Zack Greinke and Justin Verlander do battle in Detroit. Two starts does not a season make, but it’s nice to see Greinke off to a strong start in 2007.

National League

Mets at Phillies, 4:05 p.m. PT – Shortstop Jimmy Rollins thinks the Phillies are the team to beat in the NL East, but their 3-8 start isn’t helping his case. Don’t blame Rollins, though. He’s hitting .298/.411/.766 in the early going, with a league-leading six homers. The problem has been that …read more

Hey, did you notice that I hyped some pretty decent games on Wednesday? Will miracles never cease…
Not that it took a genius to figure out that Felix Hernandez/Daisuke Matsuzaka would be a great matchup, but a one-hitter from Hernandez? Against that lineup? Yesterday I said, “…and if something should happen to Johan Santana, Hernandez could garner some Cy Young support.” I’d like to remove the qualifier from that statement. You dominate the Red Sox in their house, and you’re something special.
And the Justin Verlander/Adam Loewen matchup turned out to be a dandy as well. Both struggled with control a bit, …read more

Some brutal pitching matchups today. About the only game I can recommend watching is the one in Milwaukee. Hint: The Brewers aren’t playing there.
It won’t stop snowing in Cleveland, so the Indians will “host” the Angels at Miller Park. For those of us out on the west coast, that’s a bit like the Padres playing a home game in San Francisco.
Heh.
Anyway, Ervin Santana takes the mound for Anaheim, while C.C. Sabathia goes for Cleveland. Watch Vlad Guerrero in this one; he’s batted .357/.400/.714 against Sabathia over 15 career plate appearances. The game starts at 4:05 p.m. PT.
I wish I could …read more

Happy Friday, folks. What are we watching today? For the most part, the back end of everyone’s rotation. Hey, that can be fun.
American League

Red Sox at Rangers, 11:05 a.m. PT – Tim Wakefield gets the start for Boston. It’s always fun to watch his knuckleball flutter. Plus, someone’s got to justify Doug Mirabelli’s presence in the big leagues. Also, Sammy Sosa is back; I haven’t seen him yet — does he still have anything left?
Orioles at Yankees, 4:05 p.m. PT – Yuck, did I just recommend sitting through a Red Sox and a Yankees game? Anyway, Adam Loewen is an …read more