The Red Sox can clinch a tie for the wild card with a win. Daisuke Matsuzaka takes a shot at it as he goes for his 18th win of the season against Toronto. Matsuzaka lowered his ERA nearly a run and a half versus his rookie season of 2007. That came from fewer home runs allowed, and lower hits allowed in general. He gave up 24.4 home runs per 200 innings in 2007, 14.0 in 2008. He'll face rookie Scott Richmond. I like that Richmond only walked one batter in 16 innings while striking out 13. It seems, however, he walking so few because batters find his pitches very hittable. He's allowed a .338 BA so far, and lefties are 18 for 35 against him.

Mike Pelfrey is another pitcher who greatly improved his ERA over 2007, almost by two runs. Mike walked 4.8 per in innings in 2007, 2.9 this year. He too faces a rookie putting up good numbers, James Parr. Parr struck out 12 in 16 1/3 innings, walking three, but only allowed 17 hits. That puts his ERA at 2.20.

Maybe the Twins can take advantage of a post-clinch let down and split the series with the Rays. Francisco Liriano takes the hill against Andy Sonnanstine. Liriano is coming off his worst start since rejoining the rotation. He only lasted 2 2/3 innings against the Indians He allowed eight runs, although just four were earned. Sonnanstine is posting a 1.89 ERA in September. In three starts, however, he just has an 0-1 record to show for it.

John Danks visits Brandon Duckworth as the White Sox hope to keep their 2 1/2 game lead as the prepare for the showdown with the Twins on Tuesday. Danks hasn't fared well against one of the weaker offenses in the game. The Royals scored eight runs in 9 2/3 innings against John this season. On top of that, the Royals seem to score with Ducksworth on the mound, generating 32 runs in his five starts.

Derek Lowe tries to take the Dodgers magic number down one more as he faces Matt Cain in the 2008 Dodger Stadium finale. Lowe posted a 1.13 ERA over his last seven starts, good for a 5-1 record. The opposition hit just one home run against him in that time, covering 47 2/3 innings. Cain already set a new career high in innings pitched, and with four strikeouts today he'll set a new career high in that category as well.

Finally, a weak pitching matchup for the closing of Yankee Stadium as Chris Waters gets the honor against Andy Pettitte. Chris, in his rookie year, sandwiched seven poor starts between two brilliant ones. Although he pitched poorly at home in 2008, Pettitte's career for the Yankees in the Bronx is rather impressive. He did a great job keeping players off base with walks and keeping the ball in the park. That was good enough for a 94-42 record and a .642 winnings percentage.

Enjoy!

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