Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
September 18, 2003
Games of the Day

Looking at the national radar, I don't think neither the Yankees-Orioles nor the Marlins-Phillies will be played today. The Philadelphia game was going to pit Willis vs. Millwood. That would have been fun. We may be looking at a potential makeup game at the end of the season, depending on how close the division/wild card/home field races turn out to be.

The two most important games in the AL are for the wild card today, with Tampa Bay coming off a good win against the Red Sox and the Mariners knocking around a poor Texas pitcher last night. TB send Rob Bell to the mound against Tim Wakefield tonight. Wakefield is 7-1 against the DRays in his career. The Red Sox offense has been flat of late, only scoring 14 runs in their last five games, and eight of those came Monday.

Seattle sends Freddy Garcia against Joaquin Benoit this afternoon in Texas. Garcia should be the ace of this staff, and lately he's been pitching more like one. Despite a 1-2 record, he's posted a 3.13 ERA over his last five starts. Benoit pitches well for a Texas starter. He doesn't give up too many hits, but he does give up a lot of walks and a whopping 22 HR in 97 innings. That puts him just out of the top 25 in HR allowed in the AL. His 2.04 HR per 9 is the highest in baseball for someone with at least 95 innings pitched. The Mariners, however, rank 13th in the AL in HR hit, so that may not be a problem for Benoit this afternoon.

The most important game in the NL in terms of division races is Houston at Colorado. The Astros lead is down to 1/2 game, and with the Cubs off, the Astros can extend it. Wade Miller (2.61 ERA over his last five games) faces Jose Jimenez. The Astros have the same problem as the White Sox; the Cubs have an easy schedule of the Pirates and Reds, while the Astros face the Cardinals , Giants and Brewers. Luckily, for the Astros the Giants have clinched. Unfortunately, they are still fighting Atlanta for home field advantage. Should be a fun last week of the season.


Posted by David Pinto at 11:33 AM | Games | TrackBack (0)