Meanwhile, here are the games that matter:

• Marlins at Mets, 10:10 a.m. PT — Dontrelle Willis vs Tom Glavine. I can’t think of a better pitcher to make this start for New York than Glavine. To say the guy is well prepared for this situation is to make a colossal understatement. He’ll face a tough Florida lineup, but also a pitcher in Willis who has been a disaster in the second half (batters are hitting .315/.383/.522 against him since the All-Star break).
• Nationals at Phillies, 10:35 a.m. PT — Like the Mets, the Phillies play a lousy team at home. Like the Mets, they’ll send out a 40-something left-hander (Jamie Moyer) to get the job done. Jay Bergmann counters for Washington, and all of his splits come up bad. He’s much less effective on the road, in the second half, and against left-handed batters (hello Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley, and Ryan Howard).
• Padres at Brewers, 11:05 a.m. PT — How has San Diego’s season come to depend on Brett Tomko? I’m pretty certain that wasn’t in the script. The Padres also have the pleasure of facing a playoff-caliber club on its home turf. Jeff Suppan, who has been stronger at home and in the second half, gets the call for Milwaukee.
• Diamondbacks at Rockies, 12:05 p.m. PT — Arizona has already clinched the NL West. Although the Snakes own the best record in the league, they also don’t have much incentive to play their regulars. The Rockies, meanwhile, have won 15 of their last 20 games and have shown no interest in going home for the winter. Two young right-handers, Yusmeiro Petit and Ubaldo Jimenez, hook up in this one.

There you have it. Fire up a pot of coffee and plant your posterior on the couch. It’s gonna be a fun morning…

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

Aaron hit his 739th home run off Oakland left-hander Vida Blue on June 12, 1975. With the Brewers clinging to a 4-3 lead, Aaron homered to lead off the bottom of the fifth inning. Blue proceeded to strike out the side in order, but Milwaukee went on to win the game, 9-7.

Two days later, with the Brewers and California Angels deadlocked at 2-2 in the third, Aaron launched a two-out solo homer to left off Nolan Ryan to break the tie. Milwaukee hung on to win this one as well, 6-4.

Blue and Ryan? Not quite Gonzalez and Petit, but oh well…

Post from: Knuckle Curve

Post from: Knuckle Curve