April 08, 2005
Games of the Day
The Cubs return to Wrigley and will try to put the wood to the Brewers on both sides of the ball. Kerry Wood returns to a struggling rotation for the home opener. He'll be opposed by Chris Capuano and a Brewers offense that was hitting on all cylinders vs. the Pirates. Keep your eye on the Wood-Branyan matchup. Branyan has just 1 hit and seven strikeouts vs. Kerry in 13 AB.
Philadephia travels to St. Louis for the Cardinals home opener. Mark Mulder continues his search as he debuts for the Red Birds, while the Phillies counter with Cory Lidle. Lidle finished strong once the Phillies acquired him, posting a 5-2 record and a 3.90 ERA.
Sidney Ponson stays out of jail long enough to make his 2005 debut against the Yankees. Ponson seems to be all or nothing against New York. He face the Yankees six times last season; in his two wins he pitched complete games and allowed only 1 run. In his four losses he allowed 39 hits in 24 1/3 innings and 20 earned runs. He'll face new addition Jaret Wright.
Cincinnati bring the best record in the majors into Houston this evening to face Roger Clemens. The Rocket had a rough spring; good K numbers but when the batters made contact they got hits. The Reds send former Angel Ramon Ortiz to the mound for his Reds debut. He was instrumental in the Angels drive to the World Championship in 2002, but batters have been able to hit him since.
Finally, in Seattle Chan Ho Park puts his two-seam fastball to the test for the Rangers. Orel Hersisher has been working with the veteran to diversify his repertoire of pitches. Park is the key to the Rangers improving this season. He'll be facing another former Angel, Aaron Sele. Sele has not had a good ERA or winning record since he last pitched for Seattle in 2001. He'll be trying to reclaim that Northwest magic. Unfortunately, his strikeout rate and declined and his walk rate has increased since that 15-5 season.
Enjoy!
Posted by David Pinto at
11:27 AM
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