Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
June 30, 2008
Games of the Day

The Red Sox visit the first place Tampa Bay Rays tonight with 1/2 game separating the two clubs. Justin Masterson takes the hill for the Red Sox. His most impressive number is the .195 batting average he's allowed to opponents. That's somewhat neutralized by his high number of walks, but still, a .306 opponents OBA is very good. Five of the six home runs he allowed came off the bats of lefties. James Shields is charged with keeping the Rays in first place. He's pitched to a bit of tough luck this season as his 3.76 ERA only produced a 5-5 record. The Rays scored two runs or less in five of his starts. However, he has a four run difference in ERA home and road, posting a 1.99 mark in Tampa Bay. Only three of his eleven home runs allowed came at home.

There will be no Coco Crisp tonight, as he's serving his suspension. It was Shields and Crisp who were the initial combatants in the June 5th fight that led to the sanctions.

The Tigers are moving up in the AL Central, now just five games back of the White Sox and 3 1/2 behind the Twins. They visit Minnesota for a three game series with Armando Galarraga facing Glen Perkins. Galarraga is undefeated in June at 3-0, allowing just seven walks in 26 1/3 innings. Perkins allows a .315 opponents BA, and all nine of his home runs allowed came off right-handed bats. With Detroit's right-handed power, that could be a problem. However, Perkins's best start of the season came against the Tigers. He gave up one run in 7 2/3 innings on May 25th at Comerica.

Milwaukee and Arizona are both in tight pennant races. They face each other in Phoenix as Dave Bush takes on former Brewer Doug Davis. Bush is finishing up a fine June in which he controlled the long ball and reduced his already fine walk rate. Davis tries to keep the Diamondbacks above .500. He's 0-1 in five June starts despite a 3.03 ERA. The Diamondbacks won two of those starts, 2-1 and 1-0 victories.

Finally, Oakland starts first place week as they play both the Angels and the White Sox. Tonight, Greg Smith starts against John Garland. Smith has run into some trouble in June. His walks have gone up, and along with those his ERA. Garland has not pitched well in Anaheim this season, posting a 4.88 ERA at home. He walks a lot more batters in Angels Stadium than on the road.

Enjoy!

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Posted by David Pinto at 08:41 AM | Matchups | TrackBack (0)
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