Monday, July 6, 2009

MOTN!

Matchups of the Day for this July 6th, 2009...

Ok, a bit late, one game has started, and the Jays lead the Yankees 4-1 as Ricky Romero's scoreless streak reached 24 1/3 innings before an Eric Kinske solo shot. Alex Rios hit a 3-run shot in the 3rd for Toronto. The game is currently in the 5th inning.

Now, onto the rest of the day...

Braves v. Cubs. Jair Jurrjens looks to continue his amazing 2009 as he heads to the mound to face off against Randy Wells, who is also looking to continue an excellent 2009. Jurrjens is 6-6 with a 2.73 ERA in 102 1/3 innings this season. His FIP is 3.53 which means his ERA is artificially low, but even still, he is 5th in ERA and 10th in FIP. He does not strike out many (6.6/9) and walks more people than maybe he should (3.34/9) but his BAA is .236 and he has been one of two Braves starters that were snubbed/unlucky when it comes to the All-Star game selections. Randy Wells (3-3) is almost a carbon copy of Jurrjens, posting a 2.43 ERA with a 3.24 FIP (a difference of .81, Jurrjens has a difference of .80). Wells strikes out 6.43/9, walks 2/9, and strands more runners, but on the whole, is very similar. Either of these teams could make a serious run at their division crown and this is a good opportunity for both of these teams, the Cubs recently dismantling the Brewers, and the Braves being rocked by the Nationals after a 5-game winning streak, to make a move before the break.

Rangers v. Angels tonight in Anaheim. Kevin Millwood(8-5 2.80), who has been discussed as one lucky man this season here will face off against the Angels and Jered Weaver (8-3 3.10 ERA). This is a matchup that happened last week when both pitchers were roughed up a bit (Weaver has also given up 16 earned runs in his last 3 starts, while Millwood's last start ended his streak of 6 consecutive quality starts). The teams are tied at the top of the west at 45-35 each, with the run differential favoring Texas by 8 runs.

On the left coast we see a battle of two teams looking to win the NL Wild Card as the Marlins travel to face off against the Giants. Matt Cain, one of two All-Star pitchers from SF is boasting a 9-2 record with a 2.48 ERA versus Florida's Sean West (3-2 4.06 ERA) who had his first Major League win against the Giants as he pitched 8-innings of 2-hit shutout ball on June 8th. Hanley Ramirez is questionable for the game...but Kung-Fu Panda is not (remember to vote for him). Oh, and another Giants related note, but maybe the coolest story of the day...always make your mom your agent.




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