It's not that great a night for games. Two stand out.

The Red Sox visit Yankee Stadium and send Pedro Martinez to the mound vs. Andy Pettitte. It's a great matchup; Pettitte has pretty much owned the Red Sox during his career (13-4, 2.54 ERA), and Pedro always seems to have his best for the Yankees (207 K in 156 2/3 innings vs. the Bombers). What the Yankees really need to do is win one game in this series; that will give them ten wins against the Red Sox this year, which, if the teams tie for 1st, would give the Yankees the division. So, where a win against the Red Sox would usually reduce the Yankees magic number by two, the first win against the Sox would reduce it by three. Likewise, a Sox sweep would reduce their magic number vs. the Yankees by seven. (Yankees magic number 21; Sox 28 going into tonight).

By the way, Michele is taking bets on the series. :-)

The other good matchup pits a pair of good, young pitchers against each other. Bradon Webb and the Diamondbacks face Jerome Williams and the Giants in San Francisco. In his last 9 starts, Webb has a 2.85 ERA but a 1-5 record (1-8 for the team). His run support per 9 innings in that time is 2.18. He should be rookie of the year, but I'm afraid his undeserved 8-7 record will work against him. Williams is 2-0 against the DBacks in three starts this year, having beaten both Curt Schilling and Randy Johnson. Not bad for a rookie.

Finally, if you are into watching pain and suffering, Mike Maroth takes 19 losses to the mound tonight as Detroit drives across the border to Toronto. If Maroth takes the loss, he'll be the Tigers first 20-game loser of the year, and the first in the majors since Brian Kingman in 1980. In his favor, he does have a 1.88 ERA against the Jays for his career.