Two good pennant race games in the AL today. In the earlier game, Kansas City travels north to take on the Twins. The Royals have handled the Twins so far this year, taking 7 of the 10 matchups, despite posting a 5.15 ERA vs. the Twins. The Twins have posted a 5.04 ERA vs. the Royals, but the Royals are 4-0 in 1-run games vs. the Twins.

A good pitching matchup in Seattle as Barry Zito and the A's face Ryan Franklin of the Mariners. Both the A's and the Twins have to hope to win the division, as it looks more and more like the Yankees and Red Sox are going to push each other to very high win totals. Barry Zito is 6-1 with a 3.30 ERA career vs. the Mariners, and the Mariners have had very good teams during Zito's career.

The Florida Marlins are 14.5 out in the NL East, but only four back in the wild card race. They send Mark Redman to the mound against Mike Hampton of the Braves tonight. Taking a couple of games from the Braves would do well to boost this team; if you beat the best, you can beat anybody. The Marlins starters rank 4th in the league in ERA, the Braves starters 9th.

Finally, the Arizona-San Francisco series continues. The Giants are 8-2 vs. Arizona, and now are in command of the division. The Diamondbacks did a great job to get within striking distance of first place, but when given the opportunity to take the Giants head-to-head, they could not deliver.