Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
September 21, 2005
Games of the Day

The Twins and Athletics play a noon-time game on the west coast as the A's go for the sweep of the three-game series. Rookie Scott Baker faces Joe Kennedy. Baker is doing well in his first year, posting a 2.87 ERA in six starts and one relief appearance. His best game was his last time out, holding the White Sox to one run over seven innings. He doesn't quite fit into the Twins rotation, however, since he's allowed 11 walks in 37 2/3 innings. That's high for the Twins, but most teams would be very happy with those numbers.

Joe Kennedy's home runs allowed are down a tad since leaving Colorado, but his strike outs are up and his hits allowed are way down. All that means he's cut his ERA in half since joining the Athletics.

A pair of 14-game winners face off in The Bronx tonight as Rodrigo Lopez gets matched against Randy Johnson. Rodrigo's post-break ERA is a run higher than before the All-Star game. His strike outs are way down; 5.7 before the break, 4.5 after. Fewer strike outs lead to more hits and a ballooning ERA. Randy Johnson should be well rested after his tirade in the Toronto game caused the Big Unit to be ejected in the second inning.

In the borough of Queens, Jae Seo of the Mets hosts Jason Vargas and the Marlins. The Marlins are in trouble in the wild card race, three games back with six games against the Braves coming up. Vargas allowed 19 earned runs in his last 22 2/3 innings. Seo was hit by the Nationals his last time out, but he continues to put up great strike out and walk numbers. For the season he's struck out 53 while walking just 10.

Finally, the Indians and White Sox play the rubber game of their series. Scott Elarton opposes Jon Garland. Garland's been up and down lately. Over his last five, he's had great starts alternating with very poor ones. He's coming off eight very strong innings against the Twins. A win tonight gives him 18 on the season and a shot at 20. After a poor August, Elarton's been right on in September. His 1.23 ERA helped him to a 3-0 record, and only one of his 29 home runs allowed came in September.

Enjoy!

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Posted by David Pinto at 08:37 AM | Matchups | TrackBack (0)
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