May 15, 2008
Games of the Day
It's a good afternoon to play hooky from work as nine games take place under the sun. Cleveland Indians starters hold a 43 1/3 inning scoreless streak as Aaron Laffey takes the hill against the Oakland Athletics. C.C. Sabathia was the last starter to allow a run, in the fifth inning against Toronto on May 9th. Laffey holds a 1.83 ERA this season, walking just four batters in 19 2/3 innings. He'll face one of the young stars of the Oakland rotation, Greg Smith. The A's picked up another high strikeout, low walk pitcher and it's paying off for them in Smith.
Greg Maddux returns to Chicago with 350 wins under his belt to face Ryan Dempster. The old man is posting the same strikeout and walk rates as in 2007, with fewer hits allowed. Dempster made a fantastic transition from bullpen to rotation, pitching better as a stater than he ever did for Florida or Cincinnati.
Ian Kennedy's minor league stint was a short one as he returns to the Yankees to face Scott Kazmir. Kennedy allowed just one hit in 7 1/3 inning start at Scranton, showing that the demotion was the kick in the pants he needed to get his act together. The Yankees don't give him an easy job, however, as he faces the first place Rays. Scott Kazmir signed a new contract yesterday, keeping him on the Rays through at least 2011. Since 2006, he's struck out more batters than innings pitched, and the Rays correctly see the value in locking in that skill.
The best pure pitching matchup of the day takes place in Arizona where Aaron Cook and Brandon Webb. Not only is Webb undefeated, he's won each of his eight starts. Cook, however, is 6-1 with a better ERA than Webb. Both do a great job of keeping the ball in the park, Webb allowing two home runs, Cook just three.
Enjoy!
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Posted by David Pinto at
08:43 AM
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