The Mets open the penultimate season at Shea Stadium today with a good matchup of young pitchers. Cole Hamels and John Maine both sport 0.00 ERAs after one start. The two pitchers both worked seven scoreless innings in their 2007 debuts, with low walks and hits and a good number of strikeouts. Mets fans should be in for a treat this afternoon.

The Pirates open their ballpark tied for first place in the NL Central, and they'll host the defending division champions the St. Louis Cardinals. It's a game in which both offenses are struggling. Pittsburgh batters are getting on base at a .286 clip, while the Cardinals are only slightly better at .288. The big difference in the teams is the distribution of runs on the pitching staff. The Cardinals starters are good, but the bullpen bleeds runs. The Pirates starters hold a high ERA, but the bullpen's been untouchable. Ian Snell faces Braden Looper this afternoon.

And out west tonight the Athletics open at home with their best pitcher, Rich Harden, taking on the White Sox and Jose Contreras. The two pitched completely different first starts. Harden dominated the righties in the Mariners lineup as they went 0 for 15 with seven strikeouts. The only hits and walks against Rich came off the bats of the lefties. Eight of twelve batters reached base against Contreras, and in 1+ innings of work he allowed a cycle.

Enjoy!