Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
April 24, 2008
Games of the Day

The Red Sox call up Justin Masterson to start in their ailing rotation. Too bad he's not a pinch hitter, so that in a tight situation the crowd could start chanting, "Bat Masterson!" He'll face a tough opponent in Joe Saunders. The Angels starter walks a batter every five innings and that has helped him keep his ERA down to 2.15.

Francisco Liriano makes his third start of the season, and hopes to pitch better this time. His control is awful, with ten walks in 9 2/3 innings. Greg Smith's control hasn't been great for the Athletics, but he's been tough to hit as Smith allowed just a .222 batting average.

Hank Steinbrenner's outburst appeared to have a positive effect on Mike Mussina Wednesday night, and we'll see if it does the same for Phil Hughes. The league is hitting .357 against The Franchise right now, so he has no where to go but up. The White Sox counter with Gavin Floyd, off to a great start this season. However, his walk rate is a bit high and his strikeout rate is a bit low. That should be a poor match for the Yankees offense.

The Indians and Royals play two games to make up for last night's rainout. Both offer great pitching matchups as Carmona and Tomko square off in game one and Lee and Bannister take the mound in game two. While aces Sabathia and Meche have struggled this season, the 2-3-4 starters for both teams are off to very good starts.

Finally, Tim Lincecum takes his 3-0 record into San Diego to face the reeling Padres. They've lost seven of their last eight games and send Chris Young to the mound. Young hasn't found the magic that made him unhittable in 2007. His strikeouts are good, but he's walking so many teams can wait for good pitches in the strike zone. The last time I watched Lincecum pitch, the broadcasters wondered if he would turn out to be Steve Carlton 1972, putting up a great record on a lousy team.

Enjoy!

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Posted by David Pinto at 08:36 AM | Matchups | TrackBack (0)
Comments

Lincecum has become the ace of the staff. It sure isn't Zito. These pitchers can't allow more than 3 runs or they have little chance of winning.

Posted by: Andrew Godfrey at April 24, 2008 12:48 PM
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