Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
August 28, 2006
Games of the Day

The Florida Marlins go for the sweep of the Brewers and their eighth straight win tonight as Ben Sheets faces Josh Johnson. Sheets' pitching numbers in August are great, except for his ERA. Ben has thrown 22 innings, striking out 22, walking four and allowing two home runs. But his ERA stands at 5.73. The problem is, the other extra-base hits aren't low. Thirteen of the 24 hits he's allowed went for extra-bases in the month. Johnson, in his first full year in the majors may be hitting a wall. His strikeout rate dropped in August leading to an increase in his ERA as well.

The Diamondbacks are three games behind the Padres, and open a three game series against San Diego tonight. Brandon Webb hosts Woody Williams in the pitching matchup. Webb's done a great job of keeping the ball in the park this year, especially at home. He's allowed just seven long balls at Chase this season and a 2.79 ERA in the park. Williams power distribution is interesting as well. At Petco, he allows home runs but keeps other extra-base hits low. Away from home, doubles are much more frequent, but home runs drop off.

The Reds try to get back on track as they visit another playoff contender, the Los Angeles Dodgers. Chris Michalak takes the mound for the Reds. Michalak was out of the majors for three seasons before getting a chance with Cincinnati. His four strikeouts and eight walks in 17 innings this year may be the reason why. He'll go against Brad Penny, who hasn't been very pretty since the All-Star break. Penny's ERA in the second half is 6.36. He's allowed eight home runs in 46 2/3 innings after allowing just seven in his first 108 1/3 innings.

Enjoy!


Posted by David Pinto at 08:47 AM | Matchups | TrackBack (0)
Comments

Nice preview. I like Johnson for this one, but am not sure whether he can break out of the funk he finds himself in playing at home. No wins in two months there... But I still think the Marlins can stay hot to put up a fight for the NL Wild Card.

Cheers,

Carlos

Posted by: Carlos Amorusso at August 28, 2006 11:57 AM
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