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

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 game doesn’t start until 4:05 p.m. PT, so you still have time to fly to Detroit and see the game in person, assuming it’s not already sold out. Happy watching!

Post from: Knuckle Curve

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:

Talk about nice trends. Verlander’s hits and homers are down, his strikeouts are up, and he’s working deeper into games. Oh, and he hasn’t reached his physical prime. What’s not to like?

Post from: Knuckle Curve

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 Philadelphia’s team ERA of 5.14 is worst in the NL — yep, behind even the Washington Nationals. John Maine starts for the Mets in this one, against Freddy Garcia, who makes his Phillies debut after opening the season on the disabled list.
• Pirates at Cardinals, 5:10 p.m. PT – Ian Snell and Anthony Reyes hook up in St. Louis. The 25-year-old Snell fanned 11 in his ‘07 debut against the Astros and followed with seven strong innings against the Cardinals. Reyes, born exactly two weeks before Snell, is a little behind his counterpart in the development department but has been a highly touted prospect in the past. This could be a fun matchup.
• Giants at Rockies, 5:35 p.m. PT – Barry Zito and Jeff Francis square off at Coors Field. Francis owns a career 4.41 ERA pitching in the Mile High City. Here’s a weird split that might speak a little to the differences between playing at Coors and “real baseball”: Francis has issued 21 intentional walks in his brief career; 19 of those have come on the road. I wonder if other Rockies pitchers have similar splits.

Happy Monday, folks. Baseball. It’s not just for breakfast anymore…

Post from: Knuckle Curve

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, but kept the game scoreless. Actually, the game remained that way till the 12th inning, when Craig Monroe knocked a grand slam. We were out at the Padres game last night. I pointed to the scoreboard and said to my wife, “Look, it’s 0-0 in the 11th.” She said, “yuck,” or some such. Needless to say, we have slightly different tastes in what makes for a good baseball game.

I would also point out that the Brewers/Marlins game was pretty good, but I think I’ve already strained something while patting myself on the back. Let’s move on to Thursday’s games, shall we?

American League

• Tigers at Blue Jays, 4:07 p.m. PT – This isn’t really my kind of game, but with Mike Maroth and Tomo Ohka on the mound, the runs could be flowing in a big way. I’ll go out on a limb and say it won’t be tied 0-0 in the 11th.

National League

• Phillies at Mets, 4:05 p.m. PT – Jamie Moyer made his big-league debut June 16, 1986, against his current team while pitching for the Chicago Cubs. When Moyer signed his first pro contract after being a sixth-round pick in the ‘84 draft, current teammate Cole Hamels was just 5 1/2 months old. Moyer, now age 44, starts for the Phillies, while Tom Glavine goes for the Mets. The 41-year-old southpaw made his big-league debut August 17, 1987, against the Houston Astros. A second-round pick in that same ‘84 draft, Glavine was selected by the Braves before current teammate Lastings Milledge was born.

Okay, now I feel old. Speaking of which, another future Hall of Famer is pitching at 4:35 p.m. PT. John Smoltz takes the hill for Atlanta against the hapless (really, they have no haps) Nationals. The game will be brutal, so I cannot in good conscience recommend it, but maybe tune in every now and then to watch Smoltz abuse the Washington batters. You know, if you’re not too squeamish that way.

Happy Thursday, folks. Enjoy!

Post from: Knuckle Curve

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 give you more games, but all the fun matchups will be on Wednesday: Justin Verlander vs Adam Loewen, Felix Hernandez vs Daisuke Matsuzaka, and — well, okay, two matchups.

So there you go. Watch some baseball.

Post from: Knuckle Curve

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 exciting young pitcher who bears watching this season. Read more about Loewen at the Baltimore Sun (with a tip o’ the cap to Anthony at Oriole Post). Mike Mussina? Dude throws a knuckle curve, ’nuff said.
• Tigers at Royals, 5:10 p.m. PT – Justin Verlander gets the call for Detroit. Anytime that kid pitches, there’s a chance something special will happen. His fastball averaged a tick over 95 mph last year as a rookie (thanks to Lee at Tiger Tales for that nugget).

National League

• Mets at Braves, 4:35 p.m. PT – The matchup (Oliver Perez vs Mark Redman) isn’t particularly exciting, but these NL East rivals both have won their first three games of the season. Quoth Jeff Lynne:
  

  Save me, oh save me
  It’s unreal, the suffering
  There’s gonna be a Showdown

  I don’t think he was talking about this game, but you get the idea.

• Cubs at Brewers, 5:05 p.m. PT – Speaking of division rivals, this one should be fun. Rich Hill and Dave Bush hook up in Milwaukee. Here are two starting pitchers that don’t necessarily get as much attention as they should. Hill has been a prospect forever, but finally appears to be on the verge of figuring out how to translate minor-league success into big-league staying power. Bush, meanwhile, posted numbers in his first full season that on first glance aren’t special: 12-11 record, 4.41 ERA. But the guy allowed fewer hits than innings pitched, and flashed a strikeout-to-walk ratio of better than 4-to-1. Bush is just 27 years old and, like Hill, a great candidate to break out in 2007. If you can watch only one game today, make it this one.

Me? I’ll be out at the Padres home opener here in San Diego. I plan to take many photos. You have been warned…

Post from: Knuckle Curve