Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
May 02, 2008
Games of the Day
Edwin Jackson

Edwin Jackson
Photo: Icon SMI

Four percentage points separate the Rays and the Red Sox as Tampa Bay opens up a four game series in Boston to decide which team will remain in first place. Edwin Jackson faces Clay Buchholz in game one tonight. Jackson came up at a young age, and now at 24 he's finally finding his way. He still walks too many people, but he's cut down on home runs and with the defense lowering his hits allowed, Jackson is posting a good ERA. He's an object lesson for all who are worried about their young pitchers turning out well. Buchholz is one of those youngsters off to a rough start. His last two appearances, however, are what Boston fans expect as he struck out 15 in 14 innings pitched while walking four.

The Mariners and Yankees offer a great matchup of undefeated pitchers as Erik Bedard faces Chien-Ming Wang. Erik pitched well at the stadium in his career, posting a 3.45 ERA. He only has a 1-1 record to show for it, however. Wang is baffling left-handed hitters this season, holding them to a .299 slugging percentage. They do, however, have the only home run hit off the Yankees ace.

Edinson Volquez

Edinson Volquez
Photo: Icon SMI

Cincinnati travels to Atlanta and sends rising star Edinson Volquez against Tim Hudson. Volquez is wild but tough to hit as he's allowed 20 hits and 16 walks in 29 1/3 innings. Hudson is causing some worries as in two of his last three starts he lasted just three innings while allowing four runs.

The Cubs trail the Cardinals by 1/2 game as Chicago travels to St. Louis. Rich Hill takes the hill versus ace Adam Wainwright. Hill posted a K/BB of nearly 3.0 in 2007, but in 2008 he's even at 14/14. That's never a good sign for a pitcher. The trick to getting to Wainwright is to fill your lineup with lefties. Those batters are slugging .625 against the Cardinals right hander. The Cubs, however, only have three position players right now who bat left-handed.

Finally, the Mets and Diamondbacks do battle in Phoenix as John Maine takes on slugger Micah Owings. The two own similar ERAs but Owings took home two more wins. Maine's had bad luck on the road so far, posting a 5.40 ERA away from the friendly confines of Shea Stadium. Owings is glad he doesn't have to face himself as a batter. He's hitting .421, his opponents just .195.

Enjoy!

Bodog Sportsbook has all your baseball gambling needs!


Posted by David Pinto at 02:49 PM | Matchups | TrackBack (0)
Comments
Post a comment









Remember personal info?