Today's Games

Lots of baseball today after a somewhat quiet Monday, lets take a look at some pitching matchups...

1. Beckett v. Burnett- Maybe not the best duel happening today (That would go to the Chris Carpenter-Josh Johnson battle taking place in Miami) but lets face it. Red Sox-Yankees is the premier rivalry in the sport. The Sox are 5-0 against the Yanks this year, and the last meeting between Beckett and Burnett saw both pitchers implode in a game that turned into an afternoon slugfest. In Beckett's last three games he has thrown 22 2/3 innings while giving up only 1 earned run, striking out 22 while giving up only 7 free passes. He has seen his era go from 7.22 at the end of April to the 4.09 era he is entering tonight's game with. Burnett in his last two starts has given up 3 earned runs in 13 innings, but it is his career numbers against the Red Sox (5-0 3.52 era) suggest that this should be one hell of a series opener.

2. Carpenter v. Johnson- If Carpenter keeps pitching the way he has been (4-0 0.71 ERA 31 K's 5 BB's in 38 innings pitched) he could be on his way to a second Cy Young award. Johnson has lived up to his hype, the only Marlins starter to do so, by registering this line (5-1 2.63 ERA 72 K's 19 BB's in 82 innings). With St. Louis coming off of an ugly sweep at the hands of the Rockies, they might finally be showing how weak the left side of their infield is.

3. Santana v. Happ- The battle of the two top teams in the NL East No need to introduce how dominant Johan is and has been this season, but J.A. Happ is one of the few bright spots in the Phillies rotation this year, putting up this...4-0 2.48 ERA 30 K's 14 BB's in 40 innings. The K:BB ratio leaves a bit to be desired, but the .181 batting average against is better than Johan's this year.

In other games, last year's AL Cy Young winner Cliff Lee takes the mound against the struggling Royals and sabermetrician favorite Brian Bannister in Cleveland.

And one of the late games tonight, the Buzzsaw Chad Billingsly takes the mound for the Dodgers against Chris Young and the Padres in Los Angeles.

Of course, the draft starts at 6pm tonight. The consensus #1 in Stephen Strasburg, but after that it is any one's guess. My guess is that the next 3 players off the board are Dustin Ackley from UNC, Mike Minor from Vanderbilt, and Donovan Tate, a high school player from Cartersville, GA. I'm wondering if Aaron Crow falls to the 10th spot is the Nationals pick him again...