April 24, 2007
Games of the Day
It's debut day in the majors and we start off with Dallas Braden taking the hill for the Athletics. Before I looked at his minor league numbers I had a pretty good idea what I wold see; high strikeouts, low walks and low home runs. On top of all that, a 23-6 record in the minors. So far in 2007 he's struck out 20 in 18 innings while walking just four. Seems he has little left to prove at that level. Dallas starts in Baltimore against Jeremy Guthrie. This is Guthrie's first start of the season and second of his career. The problem throughout his short career is control. He's walked 27 batters in 45 major league innings.
Down in Tampa, the Devil Rays try to drop the Yankees into last place in the AL East. Standing in their way is Chien-Ming Wang, making his 2007 debut. Wang pitched dismally vs. Tampa Bay in 2005, but owned them in 2006. The Yankees need the latter type of performance tonight. Scott Kazmir takes the hill for Tampa Bay. Scott's ERA is high despite good strikeout and walk numbers. His downfall came from hits with runners in scoring position. The opposition is 8 for 22 in that situation, a .364 batting average.
Finally, Diamondbacks fans welcome Randy Johnson back to Arizona. The Big Unit struck out 14 in 18 rehab innings while walking just two. Johnson is 57-27 lifetime at Chase Field with a 2.70 ERA. He'll face another old lefty, David Wells. Boomer still controls the strike zone as he's walked just two in sixteen innings. Like Kazmir, however, his ERA is high due to lots of opposition hits with runners in scoring position.
Enjoy!
Posted by David Pinto at
08:40 AM
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