It’s nice to see the Orioles going with a younger pitching staff that can actually pitch. David Hernandez takes the mound against the Tigers Rick Porcello this afternoon. Hernandez isn’t outstanding in terms of strikeouts, but he does keep his walks down. Porcello shares the same qualities, allowing a few more home runs.

Colorado and Philadelphia play the rubber game of their series with Aaron Cook facing the recently acquired Cliff Lee. The Rockies only see lefties in about 3/7th of their at bats, but they get on base more and hit them for more power than righties. Cook gets himself into and out of trouble, as he allows a .347 OBA and a .484 slugging percentage with the bases empty, but those number drop to .316/.365 with runners on. Lee, too, limits power with men on base as the opposition slugs just .304 in that situation.

The Red Sox invade Yankee Stadium needing to take at least three out of four games to tie New York in the AFILC. They’ll send John Smoltz against Joba Chamberlain in game one. The Red Sox have dominated the Yankees this year, winning all eight games and outscoring the Bronx Bombers 55-31. Smoltz’s career is teetering on two legs of the pitching stool. His strikeouts and walk numbers are great, but he’s allowed six home runs in 36 2/3 innings, 32.7 per 200 innings. Given his 7.12 ERA and .325 BA allowed, Smoltz is making big mistakes when he does make mistakes. Given the Yankees power and the friendly home run alley in right, John might be in trouble tonight. Joba Chamberlain found a groove since the All-Star break, posting a 0.83 ERA in his last three starts. He’s pretty unhittable at the moment, as opponents are 8 for 70 in that time. For all the bad blood between Youkilis and Chamberalin, Joba has yet to hit Kevin.

Enjoy!