In the late 90's, a couple of the best Red Sox games I attended were against the Indians. The matchup each time was Bartolo Colon vs. Pedro Martinez. Tonight, the Indian's new ace, C.C. Sabathia will face the master of the changeup. Milliliter has been equally effective against righties and lefties this season; although righties have a higher BA against him, both side have a .265 OBA (excellent), and both righties have a slightly lower slugging percentage against (.330 vs. .367). It will be interesting to see how the Boston lefties handle him.

The stat that stands out for Pedro is his HR allowed, six. He allowed seven all last year. Luckily for Martinez, five have come with no one on base.

The red hot and red hatted Angels journey to Gotham to take on the New York Yankees. The Angels have won nine in a row to take a 2 1/2 game lead over the Texas Rangers in the AL West. The Yankees have won 10 of 12 since being swept by the Red Sox and now stand 1/2 game out of first place in the AL East. Kelvim Escobar will face the undefeated Kevin Brown. Escobar is pitching better than his ERA indicates; as luck would have it, he's been pounded with men in scoring position (10 for 21, 2 HR). Brown is showing his usual great control, having issued only 10 walks in 7 starts.

And in tonight's battle of first place teams, the Florida Marlins visit Houston to take on the Astros. If you like power pitching you're in for a treat as Brad Penny faces the ageless Roger Clemens. Penny trails Clemens in ERA by .07 runs. They won't need the air condition in Houston tonight with all the breezes from the bats. :-)

Enjoy!