Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
September 26, 2006
Games of the Day

The Washington Nationals survived a train derailment this morning, and tonight they'll try to derail the Phillies playoff chances. Brett Myers faced Ramon Ortiz. Myers turned his ERA around in September after being hit hard in August. He's allowed 21 fewer hits in four fewer innings this month. Ortiz doesn't strike out enough batters to be effective, hence his over 5.00 ERA the last two years.

Houston moves from one end of Pennsylvania to another as they take on the Pittsburgh Pirates. Andy Pettitte visits Ian Snell. Pettitte's done a poor job this season of keeping the table setters off base. Number 1 hitters hold a .398 OBA against him and number 2 hitters get on base at a .363 clip. That may not be a problem against Pittsburgh, whose #1 and 2 hitters have OBAs below .325.

The Reds are still in the race. They'll face Florida in what looked like a wild card battle two weeks ago, but now is a matter of survival for Cincinnati. They'll throw Matt Belisle against Dontrelle Willis. Belisle makes his first start of the year after 28 relief appearances. He's the rare right hander who gets pounded with the platoon advantage. Willis is finishing the year strong, going 6-3 with a 2.76 ERA since August 1st. He's only allowed five home runs in that span.

The Cardinals are doing their best 1964 Phillies imitation as the Padres try to extend the St. Louis losing streak to seven. It's former Cardinal Woody Williams against defending Cy Young award winner Chris Carpenter. Both pitchers are putting up great numbers in September. Williams is undefeated with a 1.99 ERA, while Carpenter sports a 3-1, 2.82 mark.

Greg Maddux takes the hill for Los Angeles in Colorado. Maddux has only made seven starts at Coors, most likely because he sports a 6.17 ERA there. But he's also 5-1, indicating his teams hit well behind him.

In the AL West, the Athletics get another chance at clinching at least a tie with a win over the Mariners. Rich Harden makes his second start since coming off the DL. His last was short but sweet, striking out seven in three innings. He's going to throw around 75 pitches tonight.

Enjoy!

Purchase ALDS tickets.

Purchase NLDS tickets.


Posted by David Pinto at 03:18 PM | Matchups | TrackBack (0)
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