MOTN!

Get ready kids, it's another exciting edition of MOTN! The time when I get to tell you what to follow and you obey my exact commands (Except for tonight...at 9pm I will be watching this).

 

Two teams battling it out for who will finish second to the Phillies and contend for that all important Wild Card spot play tonight.  The Atlanta Braves will send out Jair Jurrjens (9-7 2.67) to face the Florida Marlins who respond with Ricky Nolasco (7-7 5.42).  The last time Jurrjens was on the mound he faced off against Tim Lincecum and won, throwing 7 2/3 innings of 1-run, absolutely dominant ball.  His secondary stats say he is not a 2.67 ERA pitcher, but it is hard to argue that he is turning himself into the ace of the Braves staff.  Jurrjens and Tommy Hanson will be a formidable front of the rotation duo for years to come.  Nolasco has bounced back from his downright awful first half.  In his last 9 starts he has shown off how dominant he can be (68 K's to only 13 BB's, thats better than a 5:1 ratio right there in 59 1/3 innings) and how downright awful he can be (back to back starts against Arizona and Philadelphia yielded 11 runs and 16 hits in 12 innings).  Those other 7 outings he never gave up more than 2 earned runs.  Should be a good battle.

 

The Yanks and Rays play again tonight, as C.C. Sabathia and Scott Kazmir take the mound for their respective teams.  Kazmir has been dreadful and the Rays have to start wondering if there is something (injury wise) wrong with him.  C.C. Is looking to continue his less than dominant, but still very good first season for the Bronx Bombers.  I think everyone knows what is at stake here for both teams, especially with the Red Sox facing the Athletics tonight. 

 

In a battle of two teams in the NL Central, the Chicago Cubs are battling the Houston Astros tonight, when Ryan Dempster and his Cubbie teammates invite Roy Oswalt and the Big Puma-less Astros into Wrigley.  Oswalt is a second half monster and Dempster is coming off a broken toe and looks to right the ship on his slightly above average season so far.  The Cubs won last night in an exciting, Grand Slam walkoff in the 13th by Alfonso Soriano.  Oswalt, except for a slight hiccup against the Cards in his last outing, giving up only 10 earned runs in 45 innings pitched in his last 6 outings with a 37/7 K:BB ratio.  Not bad at all.

 

BUZZZZZZZZZ.  The Buzzsaw Chad Billingsley will be facing Adam Wainwright as the Dodgers play the Cardinals tonight.  This is all I need to say about Adam Wainwright...1.57 ERA in July.  Billingsley had a hot start and then cooled off seeing his ERA gain a full run to a still respectable 3.72 ERA.  This is a match up I don't have much to say about as these two guys speak for themselves...especially that absolutely disgusting Wainwright curveball.

 

There are other games with minor notes attached to them.  Jason Marquis faces the Mets and Mike Pelfrey in his attempt for win number 13 on the season.  Jarrod Washburn might be making his last start for the Mariners tonight when he faces Mark Rzepczynski and the Blue Jays.  In another half-great matchup, Cole Hamels faces the Diamondbacks and the National League Cy Young front runner Dan Haren.  Is Cole Hamels a top 10 lefthander in baseball right now? I don't know about that. 

 

I feel like I am forgetting about something....

 

Mark Buehrle goes for Perfecto #2 tonight against the Twins.  And now the obligatory Johnny Vander Meer footnote...only one pitcher has thrown two no-hitters in a row, and that was Johnny Vander Meer in 1938.