Ricky Romero is emerging as the ace of the Toronto staff 2011. Photo: Icon SMI
The Blue Jays try for a split against the Red Sox at 11 AM EDT this morning as they send Ricky Romero against Daisuke Matsuzaka. Romero is off to a great start, as he’s cut his walk rate without losing his high K rate. His first two seasons he walked four batters per nine innings. So far this season, he walked four in 21 2/3 innings. Dice-K owns one more walk than Romero, but only pitched one-third the innings. He’s also given up just two fewer hits than Ricky. With three home runs allowed, Matsuzaka is doing nothing right as a pitcher. If he gets hammered today, we’ll see how long the Red Sox stick with him.
The evening schedule sees Edwin Jackson battling David Price as the White Sox visit the Rays. Jackson faced the Rays three times in the last three seasons, each time with a different team. He threw three quality starts, including a high walk no-hitter and a one walk, 13 K, eight inning stint his last time out. He holds a 1.44 ERA against the club, allowing just 10 hits in 25 innings of work. Price, like Ricky Romero, lowered his walk rate so far this season, but David’s strikeout rate came down with it.
Pittsburgh tries to take three out of four from the Reds as they send Kevin Correia against Travis Wood. A Pirates win would move them to one game out of first place in the tight NL Central. Correia, a right-handed is holding left-handed batters to a .192 BA this season versus .245 versus right-handers. Wood sandwiched a poor start in Arizona between two quality ones. His walk, home run and strikeout rates are all good going into this game.
Finally, the Giants try to slow down the red hot Rockies as they send Tim Lincecum against Esmil Rogers. Tim pitched decently in Coors throughout this career, with five quality starts included in the eight he made there. His 3.86 ERA at the high-altitude park would make most pitchers happy. Rogers’s low ERA is helped by allowing batters one hit in ten at bats with runners in scoring position this year. Still, his .224/.296/.327 opposition slash line is very good.
Enjoy!