Joe Blanton pitched a great game, left with the lead, Madson came in, and I thought they were going to lose the lead, a great play gets 2 outs and then they get out of the innings.  Brad Lidge was perfect for his second outing in a row, I just hope this is a good sign, if there was ever a time for him to get hot, it's right now.

Pitchers who went 7 innings: Jeff Niemann (ND, 5 hits, 2 runs, 0 walks, 3 K's), Clayton Kershaw (ND, 4 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks, 11 K's), Bronson Arroyo (ND, 7.1 innings, 6 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks, 3 K's), Brian Matusz (W, 4 hits, 1 run, 1 walk, 8 K's), Scott Baker (ND, 6 hits, 3 runs, 1 walk, 6 K's), Nelson Figueroa (W, 6 hits, 1 run, 2 walks, 10 K's), Dan Haren (W, 6 hits, 3 runs, 2 walks, 7 K's), Jair Jurrjens (L, 7 hits, 3 runs - 2 earned, 2 walks, 2 K's), Joe Blanton (W, 3 hits, 1 run, 4 walks, 7 K's)

Pitchers who went 8 innings: Justin Verlander (W, 6 hits, 3 runs, 3 walks, 4 K's), John Lackey (W, 5 hits, 1 run - 0 earned, 2 walks, 6 K's), Ryan Rowland-Smith (L, 5 hits, 3 runs, 1 walk, 7 K"s)

Pitchers who went 9 innings: Zack Greinke (W, 1 hit, 0 runs, 1 walk, 5 K's)

The Duel of Yesterday: Zack Greinke v. Ryan Rowland-Smith

The matchups:

Tampa Bay Rays (James Shields, 8-10, 3.81) at Detroit Tigers (Jarrod Washburn, 9-7, 3.23 - 1-1, 5.74)

Pittsburgh Pirates (Daniel McCutchen - First Start) at Cincinnati Reds (Kip Wells, 0-3, 5.85 - 0-1, 4.61)

New York Yankees (Andy Pettitte, 11-6, 4.18) at Baltimore Orioles (Jeremy Guthrie, 9-12, 5.26)

Atlanta Braves (Kenshin Kawakami, 6-10, 4.08) at Florida Marlins (Josh Johnson, 13-3, 3.04)

Pittsburgh Pirates (Paul Maholm, 7-7, 4.59) at Cincinnati Reds (Johnny Cueto, 8-10, 4.61)

Toronto Blue Jays (Brett Cecil, 5-3, 4.96) at Texas Rangers (Derek Holland, 7-8, 4.95)

Houston Astros (Roy Oswalt, 7-5, 3.86) at Chicago Cubs (Rich Harden, 8-7, 3.99)

Chicago White Sox (Gavin Floyd, 10-8, 3.95) at Minnesota Twins (Nick Blackburn, 8-9, 4.29)

Kansas City Royals (Luke Hochevar, 6-7, 5.52) at Oakland Athletics (Gio Gonzalez, 4-5, 5.88)

Washington Nationals (Livan Hernandez, 7-8, 5.36 - 0-0, 3.00) at San Diego Padres (Tim Stauffer, 2-6, 4.11)

Los Angeles Angels (Joe Saunders, 10-7, 5.27) at Seattle Mariners (Luke French, 4-3, 3.92)

Arizona Diamondbacks (Doug Davis, 7-11, 3.75) at Los Angeles Dodgers (Randy Wolf, 9-6, 3.25)

The rundown:

A couple of crafty, left-handed veterans face off in Chavez Ravine tonight.  Doug Davis really is having a very good season, although his record doesn't show it, and Randy Wolf has been incredible, he hasn't finished a season with an ERA this low since 2002 with the Phillies.  Doug Davis left his last start with the lead, Chad Qualls was brought in to get out of the 8th inning jam, instead he allowed a 3 run homer, and Davis sat there with another no decision, he really pitched a great game too.  Against the Dodgers this season, he is 0-1 in 2 starts with a 5.35 ERA.  Randy Wolf has won 4 games in a row and pitched a great one against Colorado last time out, going 7.1 innings and allowing just a run.  Against the D'backs, he is 2-0 in 3 games with a 4.01 ERA.

The notables: Not really too much, just Josh Johnson and one of my favorites Rich Harden.

Well that was a rather unproductive start by Cliff Lee.  When he gave up that first home run, I thought to myself, wow did that look really strange.  It was, it was the first home run he's allowed in a Phillies uniform.  I'd like to not see any more thank you very much Mr. Lee.

Pitchers who went 7 innings: David Price (W, 7.1 innings, 5 hits, 1 run, 1 walk, 4 K's), Jon Garland (W, 5 hits, 0 runs, 1 walk, 5 K's)

Pitchers who went 8 innings: Clay Buchholz (W, 8.1 innings, 3 hits, 1 run, 2 walks, 9 K's), Barry Zito (W, 8.1 innings, 8 hits, 1 run, 1 walk, 7 K's)

The Duel of Yesterday: N/A, terrible pitching.

The matchups:

Chicago White Sox (Freddy Garcia, 0-1, 6.75) at New York Yankees (Joba Chamberlain, 8-4, 4.34)

Tampa Bay Rays (Jeff Niemann, 12-5, 3.87) at Detroit Tigers (Justin Verlander, 14-7, 3.38)

Los Angeles Dodgers (Clayton Kershaw, 8-7, 2.96) at Cincinnati Reds (Bronson Arroyo, 11-12, 4.43)

San Diego Padres (Mat Latos, 4-3, 4.06) at Florida Marlins (Sean West, 5-5, 4.44)

Cleveland Indians (Justin Masterson, 4-5, 4.47 - 1-2, 4.37) at Baltimore Orioles (Brian Matusz, 2-2, 6.46)

Toronto Blue Jays (Roy Halladay, 13-7, 3.03) at Boston Red Sox (Paul Byrd - First Start)

Pittsburgh Pirates (Ross Ohlendorf, 11-8, 4.10) at Milwaukee Brewers (Jeff Suppan, 5-8, 5.38)

Texas Rangers (Kevin Millwood, 10-8, 3.63) at Minnesota Twins (Scott Baker, 12-7, 4.47)

Washington Nationals (Garrett Mock, 3-5, 5.23) at St. Louis Cardinals (Adam Wainwright, 15-7, 2.50)

New York Mets (Nelson Figueroa, 1-3, 5.40) at Chicago Cubs (Carlos Zambrano, 7-5, 3.80)

Oakland Athletics (Brett Anderson, 7-9, 4.35) at Los Angeles Angels (John Lackey, 8-7, 4.16)

Colorado Rockies (Jason Hammel, 8-7, 4.43) at San Francisco Giants (Matt Cain, 12-4, 2.39)

Houston Astros (Wandy Rodriguez, 12-8, 2.82) at Arizona Diamondbacks (Dan Haren, 12-8, 2.73)

Kansas City Royals (Zack Greinke, 12-8, 2.43) at Seattle Mariners (Ryan Rowland-Smith, 2-1, 4.05)

Atlanta Braves (Jair Jurrjens, 10-8, 2.91) at Philadelphia Phillies (Joe Blanton, 8-6, 3.88)

The rundown:

On July 18, Dan Haren's ERA was 1.96, since that date however, he has seen it rise to 2.73, a far cry from where it once was.  Alas, Haren is still having a great season overall on a dismal Arizona Diamondback team.  2 of his last 3 starts have been good ones, hopefully a good sign.  Against Houston this season he is 1-0 in 1 game, he went all 9 innings and allowed just 1 run on 2 hits and 2 walks.  I always assumed that Wandy Rodriguez was a good, solid lefty starter, but he has surpassed even my expectations.  He has been the ace of the Astros this season and i'm sure he'll keep that title for next season.  He pitched good in his last start, but got the loss, allowing just 1 earned run in 7 innings.  Mr. Rodriguez has not faced the D'backs this season.

The notables: Jeff Niemann, Justin Verlander, Clayton Kershaw, and Roy Halladay all need serious improvement, they have all hit bumps in the road in recent outings.  Scott Baker has been pitching pretty good as of late, going 6-0 in his last 9 games.  Adam Wainwright needs consideration for the Cy Young, the guy has been pitching his arm off since the start of July, he hasn't given up more than 2 runs in 2 months.  Matt Cain hasn't been pitching poorly overall, but he hasn't won since July 24th, his last 2 starts have been very good.  Zack Greinke was nothing short of amazing last time, striking out a franchise high 15 batters, hopefully that sends him surging through the rest of the season.  Jair Jurrjens is having a goos season, and he's been pitching good in his last 3 starts.

As much as I complained about Pedro Martinez kicking Jamie Moyer out of the rotation, i'd say the two of them make a pretty good team.  Pedro goes a few innings, then the rain comes, Moyer comes on, and ends up pitching more innings that Pedro did, and he's lights out.  Jamie, I love when you pitch with anger and bitterness.

Pitchers who went 7 innings: Pat Misch (ND, 6 hits, 1 run, 2 walks, 2 K's), Ted Lilly (ND, 6 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks, 2 K's), CC Sabathia (ND, 8 hits, 2 runs, 1 walk, 10 K's), Tommy Hunter (L, 7 hits, 3 runs, 0 walks, 3 K's), Brian Duensing (W, 3 hits, 1 run, 1 walk, 8 K's), Felix Hernandez (W, 5 hits, 3 runs, 1 walk, 6 K's), Ubaldo Jimenez (L, 7 hits, 2 runs, 3 walks, 4 K's)

Pitchers who went 8 innings: Homer Bailey (W, 7 hits, 0 runs, 1 walk, 7 K's), John Lannan (ND, 4 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks, 2 K's), Tim Lincecum (W, 4 hits, 0 runs, 3 walks, 8 K's)

The Duel of Yesterday: Ubaldo Jimenez v. Tim Lincecum

The matchups:

Chicago White Sox (Jose Contreras, 5-12, 5.09) at New York Yankees (Sergio Mitre, 2-1, 6.82)

Tampa Bay Rays (David Price, 6-6, 4.93) at Detroit Tigers (Nate Robertson, 1-0, 7.71)

Los Angeles Dodgers (Charlie Haeger, 1-1, 1.93) at Cincinnati Reds (Matt Maloney, 0-2, 6.11)

New York Mets (Bobby Parnell, 3-6, 5.08) at Chicago Cubs (Ryan Dempster, 7-7, 4.07)

San Diego Padres (Wade LeBlanc, 0-1, 14.54) at Florida Marlins (Ricky Nolasco, 9-8, 5.31)

Cleveland Indians (Jeremy Sowers, 5-9, 4.93) at Baltimore Orioles (Chris Tillman, 1-2, 4.58)

Atlanta Braves (Derek Lowe, 12-8, 4.48) at Philadelphia Phillies (Cliff Lee, 12-9, 2.63 - 5-0, 0.68)

Pittsburgh Pirates (Kevin Hart, 4-3, 4.14 - 1-2, 6.04) at Milwaukee Brewers (Yovani Gallardo, 12-10, 3.51)

Texas Rangers (Scott Feldman, 13-4, 3.87) at Minnesota Twins (Carl Pavano, 11-9, 5.20 - 2-1, 4.32)

Toronto Blue Jays (Ricky Romero, 11-5, 3.91) at Boston Red Sox (Clay Buchholz, 2-3, 5.02)

Washington Nationals (Craig Stammen, 4-6, 5.08) at St. Louis Cardinals (Mitchell Boggs, 1-2, 4.58)

Houston Astros (Bud Norris, 3-2, 5.86) at Arizona Diamondbacks (Jon Garland, 7-11, 4.48)

Oakland Athletics (Vin Mazzaro, 4-9, 5.32) at Los Angeles Angels (Jered Weaver, 13-5, 4.03)

Colorado Rockies (Jason Marquis, 14-8, 3.47) at San Francisco Giants (Barry Zito, 8-11, 4.09)

Kansas City Royals (Gil Meche, 6-9, 4.75) at Seattle Mariners (Ian Snell, 4-9, 5.37 - 2-1, 5.40)

The rundown:

Tough decision here on which was going to be my projected duel.  One can't argue with the numbers Cliff Lee is putting up, but what about Derek Lowe?  Lowe, the sinker ball specialist is having a so-so season, ERA higher than he'd like and he's given up a bunch of hits.  However, he has been good against the Phillies in 2 starts this season, he is 1-0 with a 1.29 ERA, I still remember when he destroyed us on Opening Day.  Cliff Lee is 8-0 in his last 8 games with an 0.97 ERA.  He has just been absolutely incredible and he really has done amazing things since coming to the Phillies, lets hope he can keep it up.

The notables: Yovani Gallardo, who is having a very good season, has been pitching well as of late.  Scott Feldman, who has been very underrated for the Rangers pitching staff this season, just struck out 11 in his last start.  Jason Marquis, who has been nothing short of great for Colorado.

Thank god the Phillies are done with Pittsburgh, not just for the reason that there were 2 blown saves and J.A. Happ gave up an unfortunate home run, but I can't watch those games with MLB Extra Innings, is Pittsburgh really that close to Buffalo? I didn't think so either.  Bring on the Braves, I think it will be a really tough series though.

Pitchers who went 7 innings: Justin Lehr (W, 7.2 innings, 7 hits, 5 runs, 3 walks, 7 K's), Jorge De La Rosa (L, 8 hits, 3 runs, 4 walks, 7 K's), Javier Vazquez (W, 5 hits, 0 runs, 0 walks, 6 K's), Trevor Cahill (W, 2 hits, 0 runs, 2 walks, 2 K's)

Pitchers who went 8 innings: J.A. Happ (L, 7 hits, 3 runs, 2 walks 4 K's)

The Duel of Yesterday: J.A. Happ v. Charlie Morton

The matchups:

New York Mets (Pat Misch, 0-1, 4.09) at Chicago Cubs (Ted Lilly, 9-8, 3.40)

Chicago White Sox (Mark Buehrle, 11-7, 3.92) at New York Yankees (CC Sabathia, 15-7, 3.59)

Cleveland Indians (Fausto Carmona, 3-8, 5.92) at Baltimore Orioles (Jason Berken, 3-11, 6.49)

Atlanta Braves (Tommy Hanson, 9-2, 3.12) at Philadelphia Phillies (Pedro Martinez, 2-0, 5.14)

Tampa Bay Rays (Matt Garza, 7-8, 3.74) at Detroit Tigers (Rick Porcello, 10-8, 4.39)

Los Angeles Dodgers (Chad Billingsley, 12-7, 3.73) at Cincinnati Reds (Homer Bailey, 3-4, 6.82)

San Diego Padres (Kevin Correia, 8-10, 4.46) at Florida Marlins (Chris Volstad, 9-10, 4.73)

Toronto Blue Jays (Scott Richmond, 6-7, 4.09) at Boston Red Sox (Josh Beckett, 14-5, 3.65)

Pittsburgh Pirates (Zach Duke, 10-11, 3.38) at Milwaukee Brewers (Manny Parra, 8-10, 6.54)

Texas Rangers (Tommy Hunter, 6-2, 2.85) at Minnesota Twins (Brian Duensing, 1-1, 4.91)

Washington Nationals (John Lannan, 8-9, 4.03) at St. Louis Cardinals (John Smoltz, 3-5, 7.40)

Houston Astros (Yorman Bazardo, 0-0, 4.50) at Arizona Diamondbacks (Max Scherzer, 7-8, 4.12)

Oakland Athletics (Brett Tomko, 3-2, 3.69 - 2-0, 0.82) at Los Angeles Angels (Trevor Bell, 1-1, 9.49)

Kansas City Royals (Brian Bannister, 7-10, 4.50) at Seattle Mariners (Felix Hernandez, 12-5, 2.73)

Colorado Rockies (Ubaldo Jimenez, 12-9, 3.36) at San Francisco Giants (Tim Lincecum, 12-4, 2.43)

The rundown:

I feel like i've seen thing matchup before, oh right, earlier this week.  In that outing, Tim Lincecum got the loss after 7 innings, allowing 3 runs on 3 hits and 5 walks, he also struck out 7.  Ubaldo Iimenez went 8, allowed 2 runs, 6 hits, 2 walks, and he struck out 9.  I think these two studs can go out there and do it again.  Hopefully Lincecum has a bit better control this time, 5 walks don't win you ball games.  Jimenez is 5-0 over his last 5 games and 6-0 over his last 8 games.  Mr. Lincecum is lookjng for his first win since the 1st of August, he is 0-1 in 4 starts since then.

The notables: Ted Lilly, who has pitched well in 2 starts since returning from the DL.  CC Sabathia, who is 5-0 in his last 5 and has struck out 7 or more in his last 4.  Tommy Hanson has also been pitching good, 4-0 in his last 4.  Josh Beckett, who is due for a rebound after two horrible starts.  Zach Duke, who is having a very nice season, and he has pitched well in his last 3 games.  Felix Hernandez, who hasn't been as dominating as he was early on, but still a great pitcher with a live arm.

As if we didn't already know it, Ryan Madson is not the answer either, well, at least if Madson blows a save we don't lose the game.

Pitchers who went 7 innings: Paul Maholm (ND, 5 hits, 1 run, 2 walks, 4 K's), Andy Pettitte (W, 5 hits, 2 runs, 3 walks, 7 K's), Tim Wakefield (W, 6 hits, 1 run, 1 walk, 3 K's), Jeremy Guthrie (W, 6 hits, 1 run, 0 walks, 5 K's), Randy Wolf (W, 7.1 innings, 5 hits, 1 run, 2 walks, 5 K's), Doug Davis (ND, 7.2 innings, 4 hits, 3 runs, 4 walks, 5 K's), Jonathan Sanchez (ND, 6 hits, 3 runs, 2 walks, 9 K's)

Pitchers who went 8 innings: Cole Hamels (ND, 7 hits, 0 runs, 2 walks, 7 K's), Joel Pineiro (W, 7 hits, 2 runs, 0 walks, 5 K's)

The Duel of Yesterday: Cole Hamels v. Paul Maholm

The matchups:

Texas Rangers (Dustin Nippert, 4-2, 3.95) at New York Yankees (A.J. Burnett, 10-7, 4.08)

New York Mets (Tim Redding, 1-4, 6.10) at Florida Marlins (Anibal Sanchez, 2-4, 4.97)

Cincinnati Reds (Justin Lehr, 2-1, 3.77) at Milwaukee Brewers (Dave Bush, 3-4, 5.67)

Houston Astros (Brian Moehler, 8-9, 5.29) at St. Louis Cardinals (Chris Carpenter, 14-3, 2.16)

Washington Nationals (J.D. Martin, 2-3, 4.76) at Chicago Cubs (Randy Wells, 9-6, 2.84)

Los Angeles Dodgers (Vincente Padilla, 8-6, 4.92) at Colorado Rockies (Jorge De La Rosa, 12-8, 4.76)

San Diego Padres (Clayton Richard, 7-3, 4.42 - 3-0, 3.67) at Atlanta Braves (Javier Vazquez, 10-9, 3.14)

Cleveland Indians (Aaron Laffey, 7-3, 3.42) at Baltimore Orioles (David Hernandez, 4-6, 4.35)

Philadelphia Phillies (J.A. Happ, 10-2, 2.59) at Pittsburgh Pirates (Charlie Morton, 3-6, 5.21)

Chicago White Sox (John Danks, 11-8, 3.85) at Boston Red Sox (Junichi Tazawa, 2-2, 3.57)

Kansas City Royals (Kyle Davies, 4-9, 6.12) at Seattle Mariners (Doug Fister, 1-0, 2.21)

Arizona Diamondbacks (Yusmeiro Petit, 2-8, 6.06) at San Francisco Giants (Joe Martinez, 3-1, 5.73)

Oakland Athletics (Trevor Cahill, 6-12, 4.86) at Los Angeles Angels (Ervin Santana, 7-6, 6.13)

The rundown:

Nothing too special here, but I do owe my readers a prediction everyday.  So today, new Padre Clayton Richard takes on "The Silent Assassin" Javier Vazquez.  Since coming to the Friars, Richard is 3-0 in 5 starts with his last start being the best yet, throwing 6 scoreless against a good Cardinal club.  The one thing Richard could work on is getting those walks down, with the Padres he has 18 walks to 20 strikeouts (I know he's not a strikeout pitcher, but still).  He has not faced the Braves this season.  Javier Vazquez is quietly putting together a good season once again and is still one of the most underrated strikeout pitchers of his time.  He has had his struggles the last 2 times out, but he still managed to record 7 and 8 K's respectively.  He is 1-0 against San Diego in 1 start this season, he went 7 innings, allowed 2 runs, and struck out 6.

The notables: Chris Carpenter, who has been pitching great and has won his last 6 games.  Randy Wells, who pitched pretty well last time out, but ended up getting the loss.  Jorge De La Rosa, who struggled last time out, but has been pitching pretty good overall.  J.A. Happ, who pitched a great game against the Mets last time out and he has been incredible this season.  John Danks, who has had 3 solid outings in a row with a 2-0 record.

It's time for Brad Lidge to be the bigger man, it's time for him to go up to Charlie Manuel and tell him "Take me out of the closer's role, it's just not working."  I thought it was amusing how he said this: "The fourth day in a row for me historically has been pretty bad."  Brad, I don't care what day it is, you have been bad since the season began, I wish I could trust him, but I just can't anymore.

Pitchers who went 7 innings: Mat Latos (ND, 2 hits, 0 runs, 0 walks, 4 K's), Jair Jurrjens (ND, 7.2 innings, 5 hits, 1 run, 4 walks, 7 K's), Bronson Arroyo (ND, 6 hits, 1 run, 1 walk, 4 K's), Wandy Rodriguez (L, 3 hits, 1 run, 1 walk, 6 K's), Jason Hammel (ND, 8 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks, 4 K's), Brett Anderson (ND, 6 hits, 1 run, 1 walk, 8 K's), Dan Haren (ND, 6 hits, 2 runs, 1 walk, 6 K's), Matt Cain (ND, 4 hits, 2 runs - 1 earned, 4 walks, 4 K's)

Pitchers who went 8 innings: Zack Greinke (W, 5 hits, 2 runs, 1 walk, 15 K's), Adam Wainwright (W, 3 hits, 0 runs, 0 walks, 5 K's)

The Duel of Yesterday: Wandy Rodriguez v. Adam Wainwright (Called it)

The matchups:

Cleveland Indians (David Huff, 7-7, 6.80) at Kansas City Royals (Luke Hochevar, 6-6, 5.60)

Detroit Tigers (Edwin Jackson, 10-5, 2.86) at Los Angeles Angels (Joe Saunders, 9-7, 5.33)

San Diego Padres (Tim Stauffer, 1-6, 3.95) at Atlanta Braves (Kenshin Kawakami, 6-9, 3.97)

Philadelphia Phillies (Cole Hamels, 7-8, 4.78) at Pittsburgh Pirates (Paul Maholm, 7-7, 4.74)

Texas Rangers (Derek Holland, 7-7, 4.72) at New York Yankees (Andy Pettitte, 10-6, 4.25)

Tampa Bay Rays (Scott Kazmir, 8-7, 6.17) at Toronto Blue Jays (Marc Rzepczynski, 2-3, 3.65)

New York Mets (Mike Pelfrey, 9-8, 4.67) at Florida Marlins (Josh Johnson, 12-3, 2.99)

Chicago White Sox (Gavin Floyd, 10-8, 3.98) at Boston Red Sox (Tim Wakefield, 11-3, 4.31)

Cincinnati Reds (Kip Wells, 0-3, 5.91 - 0-1, 4.15) at Milwaukee Brewers (Braden Looper, 11-6, 4.95)

Washington Nationals (Livan Hernandez, 7-8, 5.47) at Chicago Cubs (Rich Harden, 8-7, 4.04)

Baltimore Orioles (Jeremy Guthrie, 8-12, 5.45) at Minnesota Twins (Nick Blackburn, 8-8, 4.27)

Houston Astros (Roy Oswalt, 7-4, 3.83) at St. Louis Cardinals (Joel Pineiro, 12-9, 3.15)

Los Angeles Dodgers (Randy Wolf, 8-6, 3.34) at Colorado Rockies (Josh Fogg, 0-1, 2.25)

Oakland Athletics (Gio Gonzalez, 4-4, 5.78) at Seattle Mariners (Luke French, 3-3, 3.83)

Arizona Diamondbacks (Doug Davis, 7-11, 3.77) at San Francisco Giants (Jonathan Sanchez, 6-10, 4.30)

The notables: Josh Johnson, who looks to rebound after a rare bad outing.  Tim Wakefield, who looks to pick up where he left off, as he returns tonight.  Rich Harden, who has showed me that the old Rich isn't dead yet.  Joel Pineiro, who is still having a very nice season.  Randy Wolf, who has has plenty of goos games in a row.

A quick thought on Jim Thome.  Here is a guy who hits with great power and a guy who just got to #12 on the All-Time Home Run Leaders list.  Well I believe that he is higher than 12th.  I have gone through the list of players ahead of him, and have removed 5.  Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire, Alex Rodriguez, and Rafael Palmeiro.  Those names have been removed because they have all been involved with steroids.  One thing Jim Thome has never been accused of, was steroids.  He doesn't get enough credit for defeating the Steroid Era, in all reality, he is #7 on the All-Time Home Run List and is 9 behind Harmon Killebrew.

Pitchers who went 7 innings: Cliff Lee (W, 6 hits, 2 runs - 0 earned, 0 walks, 5 K's), Scott Baker (W, 4 hits, 1 run, 1 walk, 5 K's), Jeremy Sowers (W, 6 hits, 5 runs, 2 walks, 2 K's), Gil Meche (ND, 8 hits, 4 runs, 2 walks, 3 K's)

Pitchers who went 8 innings: Jason Marquis (ND, 6 hits, 1 run, 2 walks, 5 K's)

The Duel of Yesterday: Barry Zito v. Jason Marquis

The matchups:

San Diego Padres (Mat Latos, 4-3, 4.82) at Atlanta Braves (Jair Jurrjens, 10-8, 2.99)

Texas Rangers (Kevin Millwood, 9-8, 3.48) at New York Yankees (Joba Chamberlain, 8-3, 3.98)

Philadelphia Phillies (Joe Blanton, 8-6, 3.86) at Pittsburgh Pirates (Ross Ohlendorf, 11-8, 4.15)

Tampa Bay Rays (James Shields, 7-10, 3.81) at Toronto Blue Jays (Brett Cecil, 5-2, 4.58)

Chicago White Sox (Freddy Garcia, 0-1, 10.38) at Boston Red Sox (Jon Lester, 10-7, 3.58)

New York Mets (Nelson Figueroa, 1-2, 6.30) at Florida Marlins (Sean West, 4-5, 4.70)

Cincinnati Reds (Bronson Arroyo, 11-12, 4.56) at Milwaukee Brewers (Jeff Suppan, 5-8, 5.27)

Washington Nationals (Garrett Mock, 2-5, 5.10) at Chicago Cubs (Carlos Zambrano, 7-4, 3.35)

Baltimore Orioles (Brian Matusz, 2-2, 6.75) at Minnesota Twins (Armando Gabino - First Start)

Cleveland Indians (Justin Masterson, 4-4, 4.36 - 1-1, 3.78) at Kansas City Royals (Zack Greinke, 11-8, 2.44)

Houston Astros (Wandy Rodriguez, 12-7, 2.89) at St. Louis Cardinals (Adam Wainwright, 14-7, 2.61)

Los Angeles Dodgers (Clayton Kershaw, 8-7, 2.96) at Colorado Rockies (Jason Hammel, 8-7, 4.54)

Detroit Tigers (Jarrod Washburn, 8-7, 3.18 - 0-1, 6.04) at Los Angeles Angels (John Lackey, 8-6, 4.00)

Oakland Athletics (Brett Anderson, 7-9, 4.51) at Seattle Mariners (Ryan Rowland-Smith, 2-1, 4.24)

Arizona Diamondbacks (Dan Haren, 12-8, 2.74) at San Francisco Giants (Matt Cain, 12-4, 2.43)

The rundown:

Yes, I chose against Dan Haren/Matt Cain.  Aside from one horrible start by Wandy Rodriguez, he has been outstanding.  His ERA is at 2.89, but before he gave up 10 runs 2 starts ago, it was 2.51.  His most recent outing was a fantastic one against the Marlins, going 8 innings and allowing 0 earned runs (1 run).  Against St. Louis this season he is 1-1 in 3 starts with a 2.65 ERA.  Adam Wainwright is having a Cy Young caliber year for sure.  His last start was against the Dodgers, he got a no decision after allowing 2 runs in 7 innings.  This season against the Astros he is 1-1 in 2 starts with a 1.50 ERA.

The notables: Joe Blanton, who is really having a good go of it lately.  Jon Lester, who is coming off of a strong start and he has really having a solid season.  Carlos Zambrano, who is making his first start since August 1st.  Zack Greinke, who is still having a career year, in case you all forgot.  Dan Haren is taking on Matt Cain tonight, Haren has been slumping, bit I still think it will be good.

Pitchers who went 7 innings: Fausto Carmona (W, 5 hits, 1 run, 1 walk, 8 K's), Scott Feldman (W, 4 hits, 0 runs, 2 walks, 11 K's), David Price (L, 3 hits, 3 runs, 3 walks, 4 K's), Homer Bailey (W, 4 hits, 1 run, 4 walks, 4 K's), Carl Pavano (W, 8 hits, 2 runs, 0 walks, 2 K's), Tim Lincecum (L, 3 hits, 3 runs, 5 walks, 7 K's), Ryan Dempster (W, 3 hits, 1 run - 0 earned, 1 walk, 5 K's)

Pitchers who went 8 innings: Ubaldo Jimenez (W, 6 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks, 9 K's), Josh Beckett (L, 9 hits, 8 runs, 0 walks 5 K's)

The Duel of Yesterday: Scott Feldman v. David Price

The matchups:

Philadelphia Phillies (Cliff Lee, 11-9, 2.72 - 4-0, 0.82) at New York Mets (Bobby Parnell, 3-5, 4.74)

Milwaukee Brewers (Yovani Gallardo, 11-10, 3.56) at Washington Nationals (Collin Balester, 1-3, 6.75)

Tampa Bay Rays (Jeff Niemann, 11-5, 3.71) at Toronto Blue Jays (Roy Halladay, 13-6, 2.78)

Chicago White Sox (Jose Contreras, 5-11, 5.13) at Boston Red Sox (Clay Buchholz, 2-3, 3.99)

Baltimore Orioles (Chris Tillman, 1-1, 4.80) at Minnesota Twins (Scott Baker, 11-7, 4.62)

Cleveland Indians (Jeremy Sowers, 4-9, 4.82) at Kansas City Royals (Gil Meche, 6-9, 4.73)

San Francisco Giants (Barry Zito, 8-11, 4.26) at Colorado Rockies (Jason Marquis, 14-8, 3.58)

Detroit Tigers (Justin Verlander, 13-7, 3.29) at Los Angeles Angels (Jered Weaver, 13-4, 3.89)

Oakland Athletics (Vin Mazzaro, 4-8, 5.31) at Seattle Mariners (Ian Snell, 3-9, 5.60 - 1-1, 6.63)

The rundown:

Jeff Niemann has been big (literally) for the Rays this year, you could even go as far as to consider him their most consistant starter.  He has a great outing against Baltimore, throwing 7.1 innings of 1 run ball.  Against Toronto he is 1-1 in 2 starts with a 3.21 ERA, both games were in the Rogers Centre where he will be again tonight.  Roy Halladay has been just that this season, he is coming off a sub-par outing against Boston though.  He has faced the Rays 4 times with a 1-2 record and a 1.50 ERA.  His most recent outing against them was brilliant, going 8 innings and allowing 1 earned run.  Against Tampa at home he is 0-1 with a 1.80 ERA in 2 games.

The notables: Cliff Lee, who has been absolutely incredible since coming to the Phillies (and is pitching quite well as I write this).  Jason Marquis, who has a very big game tonight, looking to win the series against the rival Giants.  Justin Verlander, who has thrown 8 innings in each of his last 2 starts, and struck out a combined 18 batters.  Jered Weaver, who looked like his old self in a beautiful game against Cleveland.

Pitchers who went 7 innings: Scott Richmond (L, 6 hits, 4 runs, 3 walks, 10 K's), Charlie Haeger (W, 3 hits, 0 runs, 4 walks, 7 K's), Tommy Hanson (W, 4 hits, 3 runs, 3 walks, 7 K's), Zach Duke (W, 8 hits, 2 runs, 0 walks, 2 K's), Aaron Laffey (ND, 8 hits, 3 runs, 2 walks, 2 K's), Matt Garza (ND, 6 hits, 3 runs, 0 walks, 7 K's), J.A. Happ (W, 8 hits, 1 run, 2 walks, 1 K), Trevor Cahill (ND, 5 hits, 2 runs, 3 walks, 4 K's), Chris Carpenter (W, 3 hits, 0 runs, 3 walks, 6 K's)

The Duel of Yesterday Ted Lilly v. Charlie Haeger

The matchups:

Seattle Mariners (Felix Hernandez, 12-4, 2.66) at Cleveland Indians (Fausto Carmona, 2-8, 6.31)

Los Angeles Angels (Trevor Bell, 1-0, 5.91) at Toronto Blue Jays (Ricky Romero, 10-5, 3.95)

Philadelphia Phillies (Pedro Martinez, 1-0, 4.50) at New York Mets (Oliver Perez, 3-3, 6.06)

Florida Marlins (Ricky Nolasco, 9-8, 5.22) at Atlanta Braves (Derek Lowe, 12-8, 4.45)

Cincinnati Reds (Homer Bailey, 2-4, 7.53) at Pittshurgh Pirates (Kevin Hart, 4-3, 4.00)

Milwaukee Brewers (Manny Parra, 8-9, 6.33) at Washington Nationals (Craig Stammen, 3-6, 5.13)

Texas Rangers (Scott Feldman, 12-4, 4.06) at Tampa Bay Rays (David Price, 6-5, 5.03)

Baltimore Orioles (Jason Berken, 2-11, 6.72) at Chicago White Sox (Mark Buehrle, 11-6, 3.78)

Arizona Diamondbacks (Jon Garland, 6-11, 4.42) at Houston Astros (Bud Norris, 3-1, 4.05)

Minnesota Twins (Carl Pavano, 10-9, 5.32) at Kansas City Royals (Brian Bannister, 7-9, 4.44)

San Francisco Giants (Tim Lincecum, 12-3, 2.37) at Colorado Rockies (Ubaldo Jimenez, 11-9, 3.41)

Detroit Tigers (Rick Porcello, 10-7, 4.21) at Oakland Athletics (Brett Tomko, 2-2, 4.21)

St. Louis Cardinals (John Smoltz, 2-5, 8.33) at San Diego Padres (Cesar Carrillo, 1-1, 11.88)

Chicago Cubs (Ryan Dempster, 6-7, 4.28) at Los Angeles Dodgers (Chad Billingsley, 12-6, 3.70)

New York Yankees (CC Sabathia, 14-7, 3.58) at Boston Red Sox (Josh Beckett, 14-4, 3.38)

The rundown:

After all that offense yesterday, I think it's time pitching took control in the Giants/Rockies series.  Giants ace Tim Lincecum faces off against Rockies ace Ubaldo Jimenez.  Tim might have had a rough outing against Cincinnati, but don't look into that too much.  This is actually the first time he's facing the Rockies this season and his lifetime ERA against them is about 4.00.  Ubaldo Jimenez is coming off a great start against Washington and really has been pitching well for the last month and a half.  He is 1-1 against the Giants, but pitched good in both of the starts.  This is a big series, and lets hope that these pitchers come up even bigger.

These two pitchers have been aces for years now, and this series too needs a good pitchers duel awakening.  Like Lincecum, Beckett did not have a good outing at all last time, giving up 7 runs to the Blue Jays.  But again, don't look to deeply into that outing, every pitcher has a bad game.  He has already faced the Yankees 4 times with a 2-0 record and a 4.12 ERA, his last start against them was his best, 7 innings, 0 runs.  CC Sabathia has been pitching good too, his last two starts have been 8 innings so he very well could be getting his late season durability.  He is 1-1 against Boston in 2 starts with a 2.53 ERA, in his last start against them he went 7.2 innings, striking out 9, and allowing 0 runs.

The notables: Felix Hernandez, who has struck out 19 in his last 2 outings combined.  Ricky Nolasco, who, aside from one bad outing, has really been pitching quite well in his last 6 games.  Chad Billingsley, who looked pretty good in his first start back from the DL.

The winner:

CC Sabathia v. Josh Beckett, that's my prediction and i'm sticking to it.

The way the Phillies blew a chance to tie the game or even take the lead in the 9th inning yesterday was repulsive.  I hate unproductive outs (Chase Utley) and I hate when Ryan Howard has to chase a 3-2 Changeup.  Oh, and I also hate the 2009 Cole Hamels.  One this is for sure, no matter what the standings are, I absolutely hate losing to the Mets.

Pitchers who went 7 innings: Scott Kazmir (W, 7.1 innings, 5 hits, 3 runs, 2 walks, 4 K's), Roy Oswalt (W, 3 hits, 0 runs, 0 walks, 2 K's), Nick Blackburn (ND, 7 hits, 3 runs, 2 walks, 6 K's), Luke Hochevar (ND, 5 hits, 3 runs, 0 walks, 3 K's), Jeremy Guthrie (W, 6 hits, 1 run, 2 walks, 2 K's), Gavin Floyd (L, 7.1 innings, 7 hits, 4 runs, 2 walks, 7 K's), Randy Wolf (W, 1 hit, 1 run, 2 walks, 5 K's)

The Duel of Yesterday: Randy Wells v. Randy Wolf (2 in a row!)

The matchups:

Los Angeles Angels (Ervin Santana, 6-6, 6.25) at Toronto Blue Jays (Scott Richmond, 6-6, 4.01)

Chicago Cubs (Ted Lilly, 9-7, 3.42) at Los Angeles Dodgers (Charlie Haeger, 0-1, 3.86)

New York Yankees (A.J. Burnett, 10-6, 3.69) at Boston Red Sox (Junichi Tazawa, 1-2, 5.40)

Florida Marlins (Chris Volstad, 9-9, 4.61) at Atlanta Braves (Tommy Hanson, 8-2, 3.05)

Baltimore Orioles (David Hernandez, 4-5, 4.20) at Chiacgo White Sox (John Danks, 10-8, 3.96)

Arizona Diamondbacks (Max Scherzer, 7-7, 4.00) at Houston Astros (Brian Moehler, 7-9, 5.40)

Cincinnati Reds (Justin Lehr, 2-0, 2.42) at Pittsburgh Pirates (Zach Duke, 9-11, 3.42)

Seattle Mariners (Doug Fister, 1-0, 1.93) at Cleveland Indians (Aaron Laffey, 7-3, 3.38)

Milwaukee Brewers (Mike Burns, 3-4, 5.36) at Washington Nationals (John Lannan, 8-9, 3.68)

Texas Rangers (Tommy Hunter, 6-2, 2.64) at Tampa Bay Rays (Matt Garza, 7-8, 3.73)

Philadelphia Phillies (J.A. Happ, 9-2, 2.66) at New York Mets (Tim Redding, 1-4, 6.53)

Minnesota Twins (Brian Duensing, 0-1, 5.09) at Kansas City Royals (Kyle Davies, 4-8, 5.92)

San Francisco Giants (Joe Martinez, 3-1, 4.76) at Colorado Rockies (Jorge De La Rosa, 11-8, 4.58)

Detroit Tigers (Armando Galarraga, 6-10, 5.16) at Oakland Athletics (Trevor Cahill, 6-12, 4.97)

St. Louis Cardinals (Chris Carpenter, 13-3, 2.27) at San Diego Padres (Kevin Correia, 8-9, 4.32)

The rundown:

It was incredibly hard to pinpoint one game that could be a duel (i'm going for 3 correct predictions in a row), so I found myself leaning towards this one.  Al lthe signs point to Chris Carpenter doing amazing things, but what about Kevin Correia?  Correia, over his last 5 starts, has thrown 6 innings, allowing 3 runs once, 2 runs twice, and 0 runs twice, that's pretty consistant. Carpenter is downright dominant this season, he has won 8 of his last 9 starts, the other being a no decision, and in his last two starts he has struck out 10 batters and 8 batters, something he doesn't do too often.  Oh yeah, and he has walked 20 batters in 138 innings with a WHIP of 0.97.  I certainly hope this one will be good.

The notables: Ted Lilly, who was impressive in his first game back from the DL.  Rookie stud Tommy Hanson, who is 3-0 in his last 3 starts.  Justin Lehr, who has been very good since coming up to the majors.  Zach Duke, who really has been flown under the radar this season, he's been pitching well in his last 2 games.  Tommy Hunter, who has had an overall very strong season.  J.A. Happ, who was incredible again last start.  Jorge De La Rosa, who is a strikeout machine and has also been pretty good as of late.

It was fun watching the Phillies offense pound the D'backs into the ground, and it was even better to see Joe Blanton finally get a well deserved win.

Pitchers who went 7 innings: Aaron Harang (ND, 6 hits, 1 run, 2 walks, 4 K's), Jason Hammel (W, 3 hits, 1 run, 2 walks, 3 K's), Kenshin Kawakami (W, 7 hits, 1 run, 2 walks, 5 K's), Johan Santana (L, 9 hits, 3 runs, 0 walks, 2 K's), Joel Pineiro (W, 7.2 innings, 4 hits, 1 run, 2 walks, 7 K's)

Pitchers who went 8 innings: Matt Cain (ND, 8 hits, 1 run, 1 walk, 3 K's), Joe Blanton (W, 10 hits, 3 runs, 0 walks, 4 K's), Jon Lester (W, 3 hits, 1 run, 2 walks, 5 K's), Wandy Rodriguez (W, 4 hits, 1 run - 0 earned, 2 walks, 7 K's)

The Duel of Yesterday: Matt Cain v. Aaron Harang (1 point for me!)

The matchups:

Seattle Mariners (Luke French, 2-3, 3.74) at Cleveland Indians (David Huff, 7-6, 6.55)

Cincinnati Reds (Micah Owings, 6-11, 5.35) at Pittsburgh Pirates (Charlie Morton, 2-6, 5.51)

Milwaukee Brewers (Braden Looper, 10-6, 5.03) at Washington Nationals (J.D. Martin, 2-2, 4.61)

Los Angeles Angels (Sean O'Sullivan, 3-1, 5.91) at Toronto Blue Jays (Marc Rzepczynski, 1-3, 3.98)

New York Yankees (Andy Pettitte, 9-6, 4.09) at Boston Red Sox (Brad Penny, 7-7, 5.22)

Philadelphia Phillies (Cole Hamels, 7-7, 4.69) at New York Mets (Mike Pelfrey, 8-8, 4.75)

Florida Marlins (Anibal Sanchez, 1-4, 5.55) at Atlanta Braves (Javier Vazquez, 10-8, 2.99)

Texas.Rangers (Dustin Nippert, 4-1, 3.52) at Tampa Bay Rays (Scott Kazmir, 7-7, 6.36)

Arizona Diamondbacks (Yusmeiro Petit, 2-7, 6.47) at Houston Astros (Roy Oswalt, 6-4, 4.01)

Minnesota Twins (Nick Blackburn, 8-8, 4.29) at Kansas City Royals (Luke Hochevar, 6-6, 5.73)

Baltimore Orioles (Jeremy Guthrie, 7-12, 5.66) at Chicago White Sox (Gavin Floyd, 10-7, 3.94)

San Francisco Giants (Jonathan Sanchez, 5-10, 4.49) at Colorado Rockies (Aaron Cook, 10-5, 4.31)

St. Louis Cardinals (Kyle Lohse, 5-7, 4.58) at San Diego Padres (Clayton Richard, 6-3, 4.66)

Detroit Tigers (Edwin Jackson, 9-5, 2.85) at Oakland Athletics (Gio Gonzalez, 4-3, 5.88)

Chacago Cubs (Randy Wells, 9-5, 3.01) at Los Angeles Dodgers (Randy Wolf, 7-6, 3.43)

The rundown:

I'm going out on a limb that this matchup could be a good one, there really aren't any others out there.  Randy Wells will be looked at very closely as a R.O.Y. candidate because he has been one of the few bright spots for the Cubs.  This good sinker-baller is coming off a pretty good start against Pittsburgh, although i'm a little worried this Dodger offense might be too much for him.  He did pitch very good against the Dodgers in May (2 runs in 7 innings) but he got the loss.  Randy Wolf had himself a game in his last start, 7.2 innings, struck out 10, and he had 3 hits with 3 RBI's.  Wolf was actually the guy who beat Wells on that day in May, he gave up only 1 run in 7.

The notables: Andy Pettitte, who has been on a little roll of late, he struck out 10 his last time out.  Javier Vazquez, who has been pitching good, even though he got roughed up against the Phils' in his most recent outing.  Gavin Floyd who pitched a great game against the A's, along with 3 other great outing, with one bad one sandwhiched in-between.

Sorry for the no-post yesterday, you know that it's not like me.  What happened was, after I wrote the whole thing up, I went to post it and one of those screens popped up where it said the page couldn't be found or whatever, I clicked refresh, but by that time it was too late, and I wasn't going to re-write the whole thing.

Pitchers who went 7 innings: Zack Greinke (L, 6 hits, 4 runs, 1 walk, 8 K's), Jose Contreras (W, 3 hits, 1 run, 1 walk, 8 K's), Paul Maholm (W, 8 hits, 1 run, 2 walks, 5 K's), Jeff Niemann (W, 7.1 innings, 7 hits, 1 run, 1 walk, 5 K's), Rich Harden (W, 1 hit, 0 runs, 3 walks, 8 K's), Brett Anderson (L, 6 hits, 3 runs, 1 walk, 6 K's), Adam Wainwright (ND, 4 hits, 2 runs, 1 walk, 3 K's)

Pitchers who went 8 innings: Justin Verlander (L, 6 hits, 3 runs, 1 walk, 10 K's), Bronson Arroyo (L, 9 hits, 1 run, 1 walk, 5 K's)

Pitchers who went 9 innings: Cliff Lee (W, 2 hits, 1 run - 0 earned, 0 walks, 11 K's), Jered Weaver (W, 7 hits, 0 runs, 1 walk, 3 K's)

The Duel of Yesterday: Barry Zito v. Bronson Arroyo

The matchups:

San Francisco Giants (Matt Cain, 12-4, 2.49) at Cincinnati Reds (Aaron Harang, 6-14, 4.35)

Seattle Mariners (Ryan Rowland-Smith, 2-1, 3.60) at Detroit Tigers (Jarrod Washburn, 8-7, 2.95 - 0-1, 5.12)

Los Angeles Angels (John Lackey, 8-5, 3.73) at Cleveland Indians (Justin Masterson, 3-4, 4.70 - 0-1, 6.10)

Arizona Diamondbacks (Doug Davis, 7-10, 3.59) at Philadelphia Phillies (Joe Blanton, 7-6, 3.88)

Colorado Rockies (Jason Hammel, 7-7, 4.73) at Washington Nationals (Garrett Mock, 2-4, 5.27)

Boston Red Sox (Jon Lester, 9-7. 3.71) at Toronto Blue Jays (Brett Cecil, 5-1, 4.35)

Baltimore Orioles (Brian Matusz, 1-2, 6.75) at Tampa Bay Rays (James Shields, 7-9, 3.88)

Atlanta Braves (Kenshin Kawakami, 5-9, 4.13) at New York Mets (Johan Santana, 13-8, 3.10)

Minnesota Twins (Anthony Swarzak, 3-6, 5.87) at Texas Rangers (Derek Holland, 6-7, 4.88)

Florida Marlins (Josh Johnson, 12-2, 2.85) at Houston Astros (Wandy Rodriguez, 11-7, 3.05)

St. Louis Cardinals (Joel Pineiro, 11-9, 3.25) at San Diego Padres (Tim Stauffer, 1-5, 3.50)

Chicago Cubs (Tom Gorzelanny, 5-2, 5.24 - 2-1, 5.27) at Los Angeles Dodgers (Jeff Weaver, 5-4, 3.71)

The rundown:

No, your eyes are not decieving you, Aaron Harang is in one of the highlight games.  Harang has has a brutal season, partially being on a sub-par team, but also, he hasn't been pitching that good.  Well his last 3 starts have been really pretty good, 3 starts ago, he struck out 10 Cubs, 2 starts ago (against the Giants) he allowed 2 runs in 7 innings, and last start he also allowed 2 in 7.  Hopefully things are looking up for Aaron, he's better than this.  Matt Cain, well I don't know how he could be better than he has been.  His last 3 starts havn't been as good as his season, but he is still a dominant force on the mound and could easily tear a lineup apart.  The Reds beat him last time out, I think he'd like some revenge on them.  The game will be on soon (12:35), so get to it.

The notables: Jarrod Washburn who returned to his season last time out, throwing 8 scoreless innings.  John Lackey who is really looking like his old self these days, he has had a bunch of solid starts in a row.  Doug Davis who will give you 6 or 7 innings on 2 run ball, he's done this 4 starts in a row.  Joe Blanton who has quietly come around to be the bulldog that he is on the mound, he has looked real good, but gotten few wins as of late.  Johan Santana who should have a good start because his last one was not so good, it's almost like he goes good start, bad start.  Josh Johnson who almost threw a no-hitter through 7.1 innings last time out against the Rockies. 

Pitchers who went 7 innings: Brian Bannister (ND, 10 hits, 7 runs - 6 earned, 3 walks, 6 K's), Charlie Haeger (L, 5 hits, 3 runs, 0 walks, 2 K's)

Pitchers who went 8 innings: A.J. Burnett (L, 6 hits, 3 runs, 2 walks, 5 K's), Chris Carpenter (W, 5 hits, 2 runs, 1 walk, 8 K's)

The Duel of Yesterday: Ted Lilly v. Kevin Correia

The matchups:

Los Angeles Angels (Trevor Bell, 0-0, 6.75) at Cleveland Indians (Fausto Carmona, 2-7, 6.37)

Arizona Diamondbacks (Jon Garland, 6-10, 4.28) at Philadelphia Phillies (Pedro Martinez, 1-0, 5.40)

Seattle Mariners (Felix Hernandez, 12-4, 2.72) at Detroit Tigers (Rick Porcello, 10-7, 4.34)

Colorado Rockies (Ubaldo Jimenez, 10-9, 3.47) at Washington Nationals (Craig Stammen, 3-6, 5.24)

Milwaukee Brewers (Manny Parra, 8-8, 6.44) at Pittsburgh Pirates (Ross Ohlendorf, 10-8, 4.30)

Boston Red Sox (Josh Beckett, 14-4, 3.10) at Toronto Blue Jays (Ricky Romero, 10-5, 3.70)

Baltimore Orioles (Jason Berken, 2-10, 6.63) at Tampa Bay Rays (David Price, 5-5, 5.13)

Atlanta Braves (Derek Lowe, 12-7, 4.08) at New York Mets (Oliver Perez, 2-3, 5.97)

San Francisco Giants (Tim Lincecum, 12-3, 2.19) at Cincinnati Reds (Homer Bailey, 2-4, 7.48)

Minnesota Twins (Carl Pavano, 10-9, 5.16) at Texas Rangers (Scott Feldman, 12-4, 3.90)

Florida Marlins (Ricky Nolasco, 8-8, 5.44) at Houston Astros (Bud Norris, 3-0, 3.00)

Kansas City Royals (Gil Meche, 5-9, 4.62) at Chicago White Sox (Freddy Garcia - First Start)

New York Yankees (CC Sabathia, 13-7, 3.64) at Oakland Athletics (Vin Mazzaro, 4-8, 5.44)

Chicago Cubs (Ryan Dempster, 6-6, 4.23) at San Diego Padres (Cesar Carillo, 0-1, 30.86)

St. Louis Cardinals (Mitchell Boggs, 1-1, 3.78) at Los Angeles Dodgers (Chad Billingsley, 11-6, 3.73)

The rundown:

Josh Beckett against Ricky Romero looks good to me.  I know Romero has been slumping, but with 3 really good pitches (fastball, changeup, slider) I don't believe he can slump very long.  Against Boston this season he is 0-2 with a 10.00 ERA, hopefully he'll fare a little better this time around.  Josh Beckett is having another incredible season, 14 wins, 3.10 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, the man is a machine.  In his last 10 starts, he has only one outing shorter than 7 innings (6.2 innings) and a 7-1 record.  Surprisingly enough, this will be Beckett's first start against Toronto this season, it shouldn't disappoint either.

The notables:

Notable pitchers to watch: Felix Hernandez who struck out 10 and allowed 0 runs in 7 innings, Ubaldo Jimenez who has won 3 in a row and went 8 innings in two of those games, Derek Lowe who has not lost since July 5th, Tim Lincecum who is just absolutely incredible, Scott Feldman who just continues to win, CC Sabathia who has been in true form his last two starts, and Chad Billingsley makes his return to the hill tonight.

Well it was going to be a save so sweet, but Charlie just had to bring in Lidge.  He might have gotten the only batter he faced out, but I still wanted Eyre to get it.

Pitchers who went 7 innings: Jonathan Sanchez (ND, 4 hits, 2 runs, 4 walks, 7 K's), Mike Pelfrey (ND, 7.1 innings, 5 hits, 2 runs, 1 walk, 5 K's), John Danks (ND, 7.1 innings, 8 hits, 2 runs, 1 walk, 3 K's), Randy Wolf (W, 5 hits, 3 runs, 0 walks, 10 K's), Doug Fister (W, 8 hits, 3 runs, 0 walks, 4 K's), J.A. Happ (W, 7.2 innings, 3 hits, 1 run, 6 walks, 3 K's), Javier Vazquez (L, 6 hits, 4 runs, 2 walks, 7 K's)

The Duel of Yesterday: Jonathan Sanchez v. Mike Pelfrey

The matchups:

Arizona Diamondbacks (Max Scherzer, 7-6, 3.94) at Atlanta Braves (Tommy Hanson, 7-2, 3.05)

Los Angeles Angels (Ervin Santana, 5-6, 6.38) at Baltimore Orioles (David Hernandez, 4-4, 3.81)

Milwaukee Brewers (Carlos Villanueva, 2-9, 5.80) at Pittsburgh Pirates (Kevin Hart, 3-2, 3.69)

San Francisco Giants (Joe Martinez, 2-1, 6.00) at New York Mets (Livan Hernandez, 7-7, 5.28)

Minnesota Twins (Francisco Liriano, 5-11, 5.39) at Texas Rangers (Tommy Hunter, 5-2, 2.26)

Kansas City Royals (Brian Bannister, 7-9, 4.26) at Chicago White Sox (Mark Buehrle, 11-6, 3.70)

New York Yankees (A.J. Burnett, 10-5, 3.71) at Oakland Athletics (Brett Tomko, 1-2, 5.23 - 0-0 - First Start)

Chicago Cubs (Ted Lilly, 9-7, 3.59) at San Diego Padres (Kevin Correia, 8-9, 4.51)

St. Louis Cardinals (Chris Carpenter, 12-3, 2.27) at Los Angeles Dodgers (Charlie Haeger, 0-0 - First Start)

The notables:

Notable pitchers of the day: Tommy Hanson who struck out 9 and gave up 1 in his last start, Tommy Hunter who pitched 7.2 shutout innings last time out, Mark Buehrle who threw 8 shutout innings last time, A.J. Burnett who shutout the Red Sox two starts ago, Ted Lilly who makes his first start since July 20th, and Chris Carpenter who has dominated everyone this season.

The Phillies are having open tryout's for potential closers, any fan can come to the ballpark on the scheduled day and show them what he's got.  In all seriousness, I really think we should give Chan Ho Park a try, or Tyler Walker even, find a game where you have a 3 run lead and if Park hasn't been used or Walker hasn't been moved then try it out, what have they got to lose anymore, except more games via blown save.  Park has a 2.57 ERA as a reliever, striking out 47 in 42 innings with a 1.12 WHIP.  Tyler Walker's ERA is 2.41, with a 1.07 WHIP, but I would consider him only if Park fails.

Pitchers who went 7 innings: Zach Duke (L, 7.1 innings, 9 hits, 3 runs, 1 walk, 3 K's), Gavin Floyd (W, 8 hits, 1 run, 2 walks, 8 K's), Matt Cain (ND, 7.1 innings, 6 hits, 3 runs, 0 walks, 2 K's), John Lackey (W, 7 hits, 1 run, 1 walk, 6 K's), Mike Burns (W, 4 hits, 2 runs, 3 walks, 7 K's)

The Duel of Yesterday: Matt Cain v. Johan Santana

The matchups:

Kansas City Royals (Kyle Davies, 4-8, 6.11) at Detroit Tigers (Armando Galarraga, 6-10, 5.23)

San Francisco Giants (Jonathan Sanchez, 5-10, 4.61) at New York Mets (Mike Pelfrey, 8-8, 4.88)

Washington Nationals (John Lannan, 8-9, 3.58) at Cincinnati Reds (Justin Lehr, 2-0, 1.80)

Los Angeles Angels (Sean O'Sullivan, 3-1, 5.12) at Baltimore Orioles (Jeremy Guthrie, 7-12, 5.43)

Colorado Rockies (Aaron Cook, 10-4, 3.93) at Florida Marlins (Chris Volstad, 8-9, 4.71)

Colorado Rockies (Jorge De La Rosa, 10-8, 4.78) at Florida Marlins (Rick VandenHurk, 2-1, 4.15)

Toronto Blue Jays (Marc Rzepczynski, 1-4, 4.38) at Tampa Bay Rays (Matt Garza, 7-8, 3.80)

Boston Red Sox (Junichi Tazawa, 1-1, 4.05) at Texas Rangers (Dustin Nippert, 3-1, 3.62)

Houston Astros (Roy Oswalt, 6-4, 3.87) at Milwaukee Brewers (Braden Looper, 10-6, 4.99)

Cleveland Indians (Aaron Laffey, 6-3, 3.25) at Minnesota Twins (Nick Blackburn, 8-7, 3.99)

San Diego Padres (Clayton Richard, 6-3, 4.57 - 2-0, 4.15) at St. Louis Cardinals (Kyle Lohse, 5-7, 4.34)

Pittsburgh Pirates (Ross Ohlendorf, 10-8, 4.30) at Chicago Cubs (Rich Harden, 7-7, 4.30)

Chicago White Sox (John Danks, 10-8, 4.04) at Oakland Athletics (Trevor Cahill, 6-12, 5.06)

New York Yankees (Joba Chamberlain, 8-2, 3.85) at Seattle Mariners (Doug Fister, 0-0, 0.00)

Los Angeles Dodgers (Randy Wolf, 6-6, 3.43) at Arizona Diamondbacks (Yusmeiro Petit, 2-6, 5.87)

Philadelphja Phillies (J.A. Happ, 8-2, 2.75) at Atlanta Braves (Javier Vazquez, 10-7, 2.90)

The rundown:

The only duel potential today is this one between Happ and Vazquez.  Vazquez has again shown that he is one of the premier strikout pitchers in the league and he'll be at 200 by season's end for the 5th time.  Also, that ERA of his is tremendous and his WHIP is 1.04, which is outstandind.  I believe it was Hawk Harrelson who dubbed him "The Silent Assassin," not sure how he gave him this name, but I would assume it's because he puts together great seasons year after year and he's always forgotten.  J.A. Happ is putting together a sensational year and I love watching him pitch.  He may walk guys and give up homers, but he is doing great and he's really been the story of the year, especially lately.  If the Phillies decide to lead this game, I suggest it's by more than 3 runs, the last thing we need is more Brad Lidge.

The notables:

Notable pitchers include: Jorge De La Rosa who struck out 11 last time, Matt Garza who had 3 good starts until a poor outing last time, Aaron Laffey who has given up 4 runs in his last 25.2 innings, Rich Harden has been racking up the K's and is getting better and better, Randy Wolf pitched 8 strong innings last time out in what has been a very good season for him.

Pitchers who went 7 innings: Zack Greinke (ND, 3 hits, 0 runs, 4 walks, 7 K's), Josh Johnson (W, 7.1 innings, 1 hit, 1 run, 3 walks, 11 K's), Aaron Harang (L, 6 hits, 2 runs, 3 walks, 6 K's), Joe Blanton (ND, 7 hits, 2 runs - 1 earned, 1 walk, 2 K's), Jair Jurrjens (ND, 5 hits, 2 runs, 1 walk, 6 K's), Ryan Rowland-Smith (ND, 3 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks, 5 K's), Adam Wainwright (W, 8 hits, 0 runs, 0 walks, 3 K's)

Pitchers who went 8 innings: Jarrod Washburn (ND, 3 hits, 0 runs, 2 walks, 4 K's), Roy Halladay (W, 8 hits, 2 runs - 1 earned, 0 walks, 6 K's), James Shields (L, 8 hits, 5 runs, 0 walks, 7 K's), Dan Haren (6 hits, 1 run, 2 walks, 8 K's)

Pitchers who went 9 innings: Scott Baker (W, 2 hits, 0 runs, 0 walks, 5 K's)

The Duel of Yesterday: Zack Greinke v. Jarrod Washburn

The matchups:

Pittsburgh Pirates (Zach Duke, 9-10, 3.40) at Chicago Cubs (Tom Gorzelanny, 4-2, 6.23)

Philadelphia Phillies (Cole Hamels, 7-7, 4.77) at Atlanta Braves (Kenshin Kawakami, 5-9, 4.12)

Chicago White Sox (Gavin Floyd, 9-7, 4.06) at Oakland Athletics (Gio Gonzalez, 4-2, 5.57)

Cleveland Indians (David Huff, 6-6, 6.72) at Minnesota Twins (Anthony Swarzak, 3-5, 5.44)

San Francisco Giants (Matt Cain, 12-4, 2.44) at New York Mets (Johan Santana, 13-8, 3.00)

Colorado Rockies (Aaron Cook, 10-4, 3.93) at Florida Marlins (Rick Vandenhurk, 2-1, 4.15)

Los Angeles Angels (John Lackey, 7-5, 3.88) at Baltimore Orioles (Brian Matusz, 1-1, 7.04)

Kansas City Royals (Luke Hochevar, 6-5, 5.38) at Detroit Tigers (Edwin Jackson, 8-5, 2.79)

Houston Astros (Brian Moehler, 7-8, 5.40) at Milwaukee Brewers (Mike Burns, 2-4, 5.89)

Toronto Blue Jays (Brain Tallet, 5-6, 4.85) at Tampa Bay Rays (Scott Kazmir, 6-7, 6.50)

Washington Nationals (J.D. Martin, 1-2, 5.91) at Cincinnati Reds (Johnny Cueto, 8-9, 4.23)

San Diego Padres (Tim Stauffer, 1-4, 2.90) at St. Louis Cardinals (Joel Pineiro, 10-9, 3.22)

Boston Red Sox (Brad Penny, 7-6, 5.16) at Texas Rangers (Derek Holland, 5-7, 5.04)

Los Angeles Dodgers (Hiroki Kuroda, 5-5, 4.21) at Arizona Diamondbacks (Doug Davis, 7-10, 3.62)

New York Yankees (Sergio Mitre, 1-1, 7.04) at Seattle Mariners (Lucas French, 2-2, 4.31)

The rundown:

I think this choice was obvious.  Two Cy Young candidates in Cain and Santana take the hill against one another tonight at Citi Field.  Cain has faced the Mets once this season, getting the win after 6 shutout innings, allowing only 3 hits, but walking 5.  Johan has faced the Giants once, also getting the win, but he allowed 11 hits and 6 runs (4 earned) in 7 innings.  Looking forward to this matchup, Cain has a phenominal ERA and Johan Santana is coming off a great start.

The notables:

Edwin Jackson faces the Royals today after yesterday's great duel and Joel Pineiro pitches against the Padres.

Just another brilliant start by Cliff Lee, giving the Phillies a much needed sweep after blowing it against the Marlins.

Pitchers who went 7 innings: Carl Pavano (L, 5 hits, 5 runs, 3 walks, 6 K's), Clay Buchholz (L, 5 hits, 2 runs - 1 earned, 3 walks, 3 K's), Ryan Dempster (L, 8 hits, 6 runs, 2 walks, 8 K's), Jason Marquis (W, 3 hits, 1 run, 3 walks, 6 K's)

Pitchers who went 8 innings: Justin Verlander (W, 4 hits, 0 runs, 1 walk, 8 K's), Cliff Lee (W, 6 hits, 1 run, 3 walks, 8 K's), CC Sabathia (W, 3 hits, 1 run, 2 walks, 10 K's)

Pitchers who went 9 innings: Bronson Arroyo (W, 2 hits, 0 runs, 1 walk, 3 K's)

The Duel of Yesterday: Justin Verlander v. Clay Buchholz

The matchups:

Pittsburgh Pirates (Charlie Morton, 2-5, 3.81) at Chicago Cubs (Randy Wells, 8-5, 3.01)

Los Angeles Angels (Jered Weaver, 12-3, 3.73) at Baltimore Orioles (Chris Tillman, 0-0, 5.19)

Kansas City Royals (Zack Greinke, 11-7, 2.43) at Detroit Tigers (Jarrod Washburn, 8-7, 3.12 - 0-1, 8.74)

Colorado Rockies (Jason Hammel, 7-6, 4.66) at Florida Marlins (Josh Johnson, 11-2, 2.92)

San Francisco Giants (Barry Zito, 8-10, 4.40) at New York Mets (Bobby Parnell, 2-4, 3.94)

Washington Nationals (Garrett Mock, 1-4, 6.14) at Cincinnati Reds (Aaron Harang, 6-13, 4.44)

Philadelphia Phillies (Joe Blanton, 7-6, 4.02) at Atlanta Braves (Jair Jurrjens, 9-8, 3.01)

Toronto Blue Jays (Roy Halladay, 12-5, 2.73) at Tampa Bay Rays (James Shields, 7-8, 3.79)

Boston Red Sox (Jon Lester, 9-7, 3.67) at Texas Rangers (Kevin Millwood, 9-7, 3.38)

Houston Astros (Wandy Rodriguez, 11-6, 2.51) at Milwaukee Brewers (Yovani Gallardo, 10-9, 3.54)

Cleveland Indians (Justin Masterson, 3-3, 4.22 - 0-0, 1.29) at Minnesota Twins (Scott Baker, 9-7, 4.85)

San Diego Padres (Mat Latos, 4-1, 2.43) at St. Louis Cardinals (Adam Wainwright, 13-7, 2.73)

Los Angeles Dodgers (Clayton Kershaw, 8-6, 2.73) at Arizona Diamondbacks (Dan Haren, 11-7, 2.57)

Chicago White Sox (Jose Contreras, 4-11, 5.09) at Oakland Athletics (Brett Anderson, 7-8, 4.22)

New York Yankees (Andy Pettitte, 9-6, 4.14) at Seattle Mariners (Ryan Rowland-Smith, 2-1, 3.86)

The rundown:

What a day for pitching, ace's all over the place, Wandy Rodriguez v. Yovani Gallardo would be a duel, but they just played last week, so i'll shine the spotlight elsewhere.

As i'm looking through players stats, I got to Roy Halladay, and I saw something incredible.  His WHIP is 1.08, good lord that is phenominal for a starter, the guy is a pitching machine, he can put any pitch wherever he wants it.  He takes on James Shields tonight, in what should be a good one.  Roy Halladay pitched a 9 innings last time against the Rays, getting a no decision (extra inning game), he struck out 10 and allowed 1 run.  This season against the Rays he is 1-1 with 1 no decision and a 2.45 ERA.  Shields got a no decision last time against the Rays, he went 7 and allowed 1 run.  This season against the Blue Jays he is 0-1 with a 3.19 ERA

Mat Latos gets the spotlight on him, what a great start to a hopefully greater career.  It surprising that he's only made 5 starts, it seems like he's been here longer.  Last time out he faced the Mets, went 6 innings, allowed 1 runs on 4 hits and 3 walks, while striking out a career high 7.  Adam Wainwright on the other hand has been great all season, he hasn't had a start in which he gave up more than 2 runs since June 21st.  He hasn't faced the Padres yet this year, against the NL West he is 1-3 with 1 no decision and a 2.19 ERA.

Speaking of the NL West, Clayton Kershaw and Dan Haren are each having the best season out of anyone on their respective pitching staff's.  Surprisingly enough this will be the first time Kershaw faces the Diamondbacks this year.  Haren has played the Dodgers twice, he is 0-1 with a 2.08 ERA.  Haren is going through his dog days of summer slump again, it seems this happens to him when a year is going good.  I wouldn't look too far into it though, he is still a tremendous pitcherm as is Kershaw, this battle should be good.

The notables:

Randy Wells has been a nice surprise for the Cubs this season, he'll face the Pirates in the only day game today.  Jered Weaver takes on the Orioles (by the way, I was terribly disappointed to see that he cut his hair), he's having a real good year.  Zack Greinke faces new Tiger Jarrod Washburn, who has struggled since he got there, could be a potential duel though.  Marlins ace Josh Johnson faces the Rockies and Barry Zito takes the hill against the Mets.  Joe Blanton, who has really come on strong of late, matches up with Jair Jurrjens, another possible duel.  Jon Lester v. Kevin Millwood and Wandy Rodriguez v. Yovani Gallardo are also good matchups.

The winner:

With the way today is shaping up, you can watch any game and be treated to some great pitching, I would say, watch Halladay/Shields and then watch Kershaw/Haren, sounds good to me, enjoy today, it'll be great.

Well Pedro, you did alright yesterday, I was impressed with your 92 mph fastball, but mostly I was impressed with the Phillies offense.  I'm interested to see how he does if the Phillies don't score 12 by the 4th.  By the way, some great Cub fans, throw beer on the players because your team is getting smashed.  People can say what they want about Phillies fans, but we just yell and scream, I don't believe we need to throw beer on the players.

Pitchers who went 7 innings: Derek Lowe (W, 7 hits, 2 runs, 4 walks, 5 K's), Tommy Hunter (W, 7.2 innings, 6 hits, 0 runs, 0 walks, 5 K's), Josh Beckett (W, 3 hits, 2 runs, 1 walk, 6 K's), Francisco Liriano (W, 3 hits, 1 run, 1 walk, 8 K's), Chris Carpenter (W, 8 hits, 2 runs, 0 walks, 10 K's), Felix Hernandez (ND, 6 hits, 0 runs, 4 walks, 10 K's)

Pitchers who went 8 innings: Tim Lincecum (ND, 8.2 innings, 4 hits, 2 runs, 1 walk, 7 K's), Ubaldo Jimenez (W, 3 hits, 0 runs, 4 walks, 6 K's), Mark Buehrle (ND, 6 hits, 0 runs, 1 walk, 3 K's)

The Duel of Yesterday: Mark Buehrle v. Felix Hernandez

The matchups:

Texas Rangers (Scott Feldman, 11-4, 4.01) at Cleveland Indians (Jeremy Sowers, 4-7, 4.75)

Kansas City Royals (Gil Meche, 4-9, 4.50) at Minnesota Twins (Carl Pavano, 10-8, 5.09 - 1-0, 0.00)

Detroit Tigers (Justin Verlander, 12-6, 3.45) at Boston Red Sox (Clay Buchholz, 1-2, 5.33)

San Diego Padres (Cesar Carrillo - First Start) at Milwaukee Brewers (Manny Parra, 7-8, 6.26)

Philadelphia Phillies (Cliff Lee, 9-9, 2.95 - 2-0, 1.13) at Chicago Cubs (Ryan Dempster, 6-5, 4.04)

Pittsburgh Pirates (Paul Maholm, 6-6, 4.76) at Colorado Rockies (Jason Marquis, 12-8, 3.65)

Houston Astros (Mike Hampton, 7-9, 5.30) at Florida Marlins (Sean West, 3-4, 4.88)

Washington Nationals (Collin Balester, 1-1, 5.21) at Cincinnati Reds (Bronson Arroyo, 10-11, 5.04)

New York Yankees (CC Sabathia, 12-7, 3.76) at Seattle Mariners (Ian Snell, 2-8, 5.42 - 0-0, 6.14)

The notables:

Can't believe i'm saying this, but Carl Pavano's last two start have been brilliant, he takes on the Royals today.  Justin Verlander has struggled im his last 2 starts, he hopes to avoid a sweep to the Red Sox.  Cliff Lee takes on Ryan Dempster in what could be a duel, but Cliff Lee has been incredible since coming to the Phillies.  Jason Marquis is winless in his last 3 starts, but only pitched bad in one of them, he's still having a tremendous season, today he'll face the Pirates.  CC Sabathia rounds out the night against the Mariners.

I'll just do a shortened version today, I hate being so late, quite disappointed in myself

Two games in progress - A.J. Burnett for the Yankees against Ricky Romero for the Blue Jays, as well as Jason Berken for the Orioles against Vin Mazzaro for the A's

The matchups:

Tampa Bay Rays (Jeff Niemann) at Los Angeles Angels (Trevor Bell)

New York Mets (Oliver Perez ) at Arizona Diamondbacks (Jon Garland)

Los Angeles Dodgers (Jeff Weaver) at San Francisco Giants (Tim Lincecum)

Washington Nationals (Craig Stammen) at Atlanta Braves (Derek Lowe)

Texas Rangers (Tommy Hunter) at Cleveland Indians (Fausto Carmona)

Detroit Tigers (Armando Galarraga) at Boston Red Sox (Josh Beckett)

Houston Astros (Bud Norris) at Florida Marlins (Ricky Nolasco)

Philadelphia Phillies (Pedro Martinez) at Chicago Cubs (Jeff Samardzija)

San Diego Padres (Kevin Correia) at Milwaukee Brewers (Carlos Villanueva)

Kansas City Royals (Brian Bannister) at Minnesota Twins (Francisco Liriano)

Cincinnati Reds (Homer Bailey) at St. Louis Cardinals (Chris Carpenter)

Pittsburgh Pirates (Kevin Hart) at Colorado Rockies (Ubaldo Jimenez)

Chicago White Sox (Mark Buehrle) at Seattle Mariners (Felix Hernandez)

Tomorrow i'll be back to my old self, i'm interested to see Pedro tonight, as much as I dislike the thought of him on our team.

I'm writing this just minutes after Brad Lidge allowed a game tying single in the 9th inning against the Cubs.  Another blown save, an ERA over 7, and 0 control.  I've had enough of this, i've been behind Lidge all year, assuming that it would get better.  It hasn't gotten better at all.  Any reliever, especially a closer, with that ERA and that many terrible blown saves shouldn't have a job right now.  Lidge shouldn't be an exception, clearly he just doesn't have it this season.  The Phillies should have picked up a guy like Chad Qualls before the deadline, but now it's too late.  If the Phillies want to repeat, they need a closer, and Lidge isn't it.  I say, they start searching the waiver wire for somebody, anybody, because at this point, Lidge will be the death of us, more so than anything else. 

If anybody has any ideas, please post a comment.

Pitchers who went 7 innings: Jorge De La Rosa (W, 7.2 innings, 7 hits, 1 run, 4 walks, 11 K's), Doug Davis (W, 4 hits, 2 runs, 3 walks, 2 K's)

The Duel of Yesterday: There was none, what a terrible day for pitching.

The matchups:

Washington Nationals (John Lannan, 8-8, 3.39) at Atlanta Braves (Tommy Hanson, 6-2, 3.22)

Oakland Athletics (Trevor Cahill, 6-11, 5.13) at Baltimore Orioles (David Hernandez, 3-4, 3.96)

Texas Rangers (Dustin Nippert, 3-0, 2.73) at Cleveland Indians (Aaron Laffey, 5-3, 3.58)

Toronto Blue Jays (Scott Richmond, 6-6, 3.97) at New York Yankees (Joba Chamberlain, 8-2, 3.73)

Houston Astros (Roy Oswalt, 6-4, 3.61) at Florida Marlins (Chris Volstad, 8-9, 4.48)

Detroit Tigers (Rick Porcello, 10-7, 4.30) at Boston Red Sox (Junichi Tazawa, 0-1, 10.80)

Philadelphia Phillies (J.A. Happ, 8-2, 2.74) at Chicago Cubs (Rich Harden, 7-7, 4.41)

San Diego Padres (Clayton Richard, 5-3, 4.49) at Milwaukee Brewers (Braden Looper, 10-5, 4.84)

Kansas City Royals (Kyle Davies, 3-8, 6.37) at Minnesota Twins (Nick Blackburn, 8-6, 3.97)

Cincinnati Reds (Justin Lehr, 1-0, 1.93) at St. Louis Cardinals (Mitchell Boggs, 1-0, 3.29)

Pittsburgh Pirates (Ross Ohlendorf, 9-8, 4.29) at Colorado Rockies (Jhoulys Chacin, 0-0, 1.80)

New York Mets (Livan Hernandez, 7-6, 5.08) at Arizona Diamondbacks (Max Scherzer, 6-6, 4.01)

Tampa Bay Rays (David Price, 5-4, 4.91) at Los Angeles Angels (Ervin Santana, 4-6, 7.20)

Chicago White Sox (John Danks, 9-8, 4.23) at Seattle Mariners (Doug Fister, 0-0, 0.00)

Los Angeles Dodgers (Randy Wolf, 5-6, 3.55) at San Francisco Giants (Joe Martinez, 2-0, 5.87)

The rundown:

A NL East showdown between the surging Nationals and the Braves.  John Lannan has been the Nationals best pitcher, to nobody's surprise.  A good left-hander who doesn't utilize the strikeout all that much, but he gets guys out and has no trouble going 7 innings or more.  In his last start, he went 6 against the Marlins allowing 2 runs, he got the win.  His last start against the Braves was phenominal, 8 innings, 9 hits, and 3 runs, he picked up the win.  He is 1-1 with 1 no decision against the Braves this year.  Tommy Hanson has been great in his rookie year for the Braves.  He won his last start, beating the Padres in 6 innings, allowing 2 runs and getting 5 K's.  His last start against the Nationals he pitched great, but got a no decision after 7 innings on 1 run ball.

This is one i'm definetly excited for, my man J.A. Happ against one of my favorite pitchers, Rich Harden.  Happ is rightly being kept in the rotation and I can't wait to see all he can do this season and for many to come.  His last start was breathtaking, a complete game shutout of the Rockies when he had all this Pedro controversy around him, it was an October-like atmosphere by the time the 9th inning began, maybe the best game i've seen all year.  Happ has never faced the Cubs, whether in the bullpen or rotation.  Rich Harden has had a sad season in my opinion, he is better than that ERA, still, he has 124 K's in 104 innings.  His last start was a loss against Cincinnati, he went 6, allowed 2 earned runs, and struck out 9.  Last time against the Phillies he was great, but got a no decision.  He went 7, gave up 4 hits, 1 run, and struck out 6.

The notables:

Joba Chamberlain didn't pitch that well last time out, but he won, and he's won his last 4 starts, he'll face the Blue Jays.  Before leaving last game with an injury, Roy Oswalt on a good roll in his last 7 starts, he faces the Marlins.

The winner:

J.A. Happ v. Rich Harden, I cannot wait.

Jamie Moyer is out of the starting rotation; no matter how bad he's pitched, i can't help but feel sad.  I don't care about his numbers this season, what's sticking in my mind is this: When I was in my jubilation from watching the Phillies celebrate after the World Series win, I saw Moyer running around with the pitching rubber, and I thought to myself, after all these years of being on that mound, that was the perfect thing to do.  Not to mention, he pitched a tremendous game in Game 3, even with an terrible illness and a terrible previous start in LA.  More so than anything else from the post-World Series celebration, that is what I remember the most.  Bottom line, Jamie Moyer deserved a better fate, in my opinion.  I love the guy, I love the way he's never needed speed to win, and how he makes those rookie hitters look like they've never swung a bat.  His final start comes against a team he owned, and soft, little hits killed him.

Jamie Moyer, I hope Pedro Martinez struggles, not because I don't like him and don't want him here, but so you can get your spot in the rotation back, it's where you belong.

I'd like to congratulate the Phillies on blowing the opportunity to destroy the Marlins.

Pitchers who went 7 innings: Joel Pineiro (W, 9 hits, 3 runs, 0 walks, 6 K's), Zach Duke (ND, 7.1 innings, 7 hits, 3 runs - 2 earned, 1 walk, 2 K's), Yovani Gallardo (L, 6 hits, 2 runs, 4 walks, 4 K's), Wandy Rodriguez (W, 5 hits, 0 runs, 2 walks, 3 K's), Luke Hochevar (L, 7 hits, 4 runs, 3 walks, 6 K's), Aaron Harang (W, 7 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks, 7 K's), Matt Cain (L, 7 hits, 5 runs, 2 walks, 7 K's), Jon Lester (ND, 5 hits, 1 run, 0 walks, 7 K's), Andy Pettitte (ND, 5 hits, 0 runs, 2 walks, 4 K's)

Pitchers who went 8 innings: Roy Halladay (W, 9 hits, 3 runs - 2 earned, 1 walk, 4 K's), Johan Santana (W, 5 hits, 1 run, 2 walks, 4 K's), Javier Vazquez (W, 5 hits, 1 run, 2 walks, 7 K's)

Pitchers who went 9 innings: Derek Holland (W, 3 hits, 0 runs, 1 walk, 8 K's)

The Duel of Yesterday: Jon Lester v. Andy Pettitte

The matchups:

Oakland Athletics (Gio Gonzalez, 3-2, 6.31) at Baltimore Orioles (Jeremy Guthrie, 7-11, 5.28)

Toronto Blue Jays (Marc Rzepczynski, 1-3, 3.74) at New York Yankees (Sergio Mitre, 1-0, 7.50)

Houston Astros (Brain Moehler, 7-7, 5.23) at Florida Marlins (Rick VandenHurk, 1-1, 4.29)

Detroit Tigers (Edwin Jackson, 8-5, 2.62) at Boston Red Sox (Brad Penny, 7-6, 5.20)

Cincinnati Reds (Johnny Cueto, 8-9, 4.23) at St. Louis Cardinals (Kyle Lohse, 4-7, 4.56)

Chicago Cubs (Tom Gorzelanny, 4-1, 3.38) at Colorado Rockies (Jorge De La Rosa, 9-8, 5.00)

New York Mets (Mike Pelfrey, 8-7, 4.75) at Arizona Diamondbacks (Doug Davis, 6-10, 3.67)

Tampa Bay Rays (Matt Garza, 7-8, 3.63) at Los Angeles Angels (Sean O'Sullivan, 3-1, 4.24)

Chicago White Sox (Gavin Floyd, 9-6, 3.91) at Seattle Mariners (Lucas French, 2-2, 3.93)

Los Angeles Dodgers (Hiroki Kuroda, 4-5, 4.44) at San Francisco Giants (Jonathan Sanchez, 5-9, 4.49)

The rundown:

Nothing looks all that interesting today, i'll probably end up watching Cubs/Rockies

The notables:

Edwin Jackson faces the Red Sox, Doug Davis has had a great season, he takes on the Mets, and Matt Garza is out west against the Angels.

More disapointment emanates from the pitching of Cole Hamels.

Pitchers who went 7 innings: Bronson Arroyo (L, 7 hits, 3 runs, 0 walks, 2 K's), CC Sabathia (W, 7.2 innings, 2 hits, 0 runs, 2 walks, 9 K's), Jered Weaver (W, 7.1 innings, 5 hits, 2 runs, 1 walk, 11 K's), Carl Pavano (W, 5 hits, 0 runs, 0 walks, 5 K's), Zack Greinke (W, 7 hits, 3 runs, 2 walks, 5 K's), Kenshin Kawakami (ND, 4 hits, 0 runs, 3 walks, 4 K's), Clayton Kershaw (ND, 2 hits, 0 runs, 1 walk, 10 K's)

The Duel of Yesterday: Kenshin Kawakami v. Clayton Kershaw

The matchups:

Minnesota Twins (Scott Baker, 9-7, 4.59) at Detroit Tigers (Jarrod Washburn, 8-7, 2.93)

Baltimore Orioles (Brian Matusz, 1-0, 1.80) at Toronto Blue Jays (Roy Halladay, 11-5, 2.75)

Arizona Diamondbacks (Yusmeiro Petit, 2-5, 5.81) at Washington Nationals (J.D. Martin, 0-2, 7.16)

Florida Marlins (Josh Johnson, 10-2, 2.98) at Philadelphia Phillies (Jamie Moyer, 10-8, 5.55)

St. Louis Cardinals (Joel Pineiro, 9-9, 3.18) at Pittsburgh Pirates (Zach Duke, 9-10, 3.45)

Cleveland Indians (David Huff, 5-6, 6.81) at Chicago White Sox (Jose Contreras, 4-10, 4.95)

Milwaukee Brewers (Yovani Gallardo, 10-8, 3.59) at Houston Astros (Wandy Rodriguez, 10-6, 2.63)

Oakland Athletics (Brett Anderson, 6-8, 4.20) at Kansas City Royals (Luke Hochevar, 6-4, 5.40)

Chicago Cubs (Randy Wells, 8-4, 2.73) at Colorado Rockies (Jason Hammel, 6-6, 4.62)

Texas Rangers (Derek Holland, 4-7, 5.60) at Los Angeles Angels (John Lackey, 7-4, 3.96)

Cincinnati Reds (Aaron Harang, 5-13, 4.52) at San Francisco Giants (Matt Cain, 12-3, 2.25)

New York Mets (Johan Santana, 12-8, 3.10) at San Diego Padres (Tim Stauffer, 1-3, 3.12)

Tampa Bay Rays (Scott Kazmir, 6-6, 6.10) at Seattle Mariners (Ryan Rowland-Smith, 1-1, 4.22)

Atlanta Braves (Javier Vazquez, 9-7, 2.99) at Los Angeles Dodgers (Eric Stults, 4-2, 4.80)

Boston Red Sox (Jon Lester, 9-7, 3.79) at New York Yankees (Andy Pettitte, 9-6, 4.35)

The rundown:

Aside from his atrocious start last time out against the Dodgers, Yovani Gallardo has been very good this season.  His ERA for most of the season hung around 3.00, it's now just over 3.50.  He is striking out more than a batter per inning.  Last time against the Astros he allowed 6 runs in 5 innings, the time before that was a complete game win.  Wandy Rodriguez is not getting enough credit for his season.  His ERA is incredible and his record is solid.  In his last start, he left after only 4 innings due to injury, he was pitching good again, 4 K's allowing 1 run.  In his only start this season against the Brewers, he got the W after 7 innings of 1 run ball.

The notables:

Roy Halladay pitches at 1:00 against the Orioles, Josh Johnson looks to finish off my Phillies at 1:30, Joel Pineiro looks to bounce back against the Pirates after a poor outing, Randy Wells hopes to continue his great season against Colorado, Matt Cain goes against the Reds at 4:00, at the same time, Johan Santana looks to salvage the series against the Padres and Scott Kazmir faces Ryan Rowland-Smith in a possible pitchers duel.  Javier Vazquez is also pitching at the same time, he faces the Dodgers.

Looks like I got one right.

Pitchers who went 7 innings: Josh Beckett (ND, 4 hits, 0 runs, 2 walks, 7 K's), A.J. Burnett (ND, 7.2 innings, 1 hit, 0 runs, 6 walks, 6 K's), Paul Maholm (ND, 9 hits, 4 runs, 2 walks, 4 K's), Ricky Nolasco (W, 4 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks, 7 K's), Jeremy Sowers (W, 6 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks, 3 K's), Mark Buehrle (L, 7.2 innings, 11 hits, 6 runs - 5 earned, 2 walks, 2 K's), Tim Lincecum (ND, 6 hits, 3 runs - 2 earned, 1 walk, 7 K's)

Pitchers who went 8 innings: Chris Carpenter (W, 9 hits, 4 runs, 1 walk, 4 K's)

The Duel of Yesterday: Josh Beckett v. A.J. Burnett

The matchups:

Baltimore Orioles (Chris Tillman, 0-0, 6.75) at Toronto Blue Jays (Brett Cecil, 5-1, 4.36)

Cincinnati Reds (Bronson Arroyo, 10-10, 5.10) at San Francisco Giants (Barry Zito, 7-10, 4.47)

Boston Red Sox (Clay Buchholz, 1-1. 6.05) at New York Yankees (CC Sabathia, 11-7, 3.95)

Texas Rangers (Kevin Millwood, 9-7, 3.39) at Los Angeles Angels (Jered Weaver, 11-3, 3.79)

Arizona Diamondbacks (Dan Haren, 11-6, 2.38) at Washington Nationals (Garrett Mock, 0-4, 6.75)

Florida Marlins (Sean West, 3-4, 4.91) at Philadelphia Phillies (Cole Hamels, 7-6, 4.68)

Cleveland Indians (Justin Masterson, 3-3, 4.32) at Chicagp White Sox (Carlos Torres, 0-0, 4.50)

Milwaukee Brewers (Manny Parra, 6-8, 6.33) at Houston Astros (Mike Hampton, 7-8, 5.14)

Minnesota Twins (Carl Pavano, 9-8, 5.37) at Detroit Tigers (Justin Verlander, 12-5, 3.29)

St. Louis Cardinals (Adam Wainwright, 12-7, 2.79) at Pittsburgh Pirates (Charlie Morton, 2-4, 4.03)

Oakland Athletics (Clayton Mortensen, 0-0, 6.00) at Kansas City Royals (Zack Greinke, 10-7, 2.36)

Chicago Cubs (Ryan Dempster, 5-5, 4.09) at Colorado Rockies (Jason Marquis, 12-7, 3.49)

New York Mets (Bobby Parnell, 2-3, 3.74) at San Diego Padres (Mat Latos, 3-1, 2.66)

Tampa Bay Rays (James Shields, 6-8, 3.75) at Seattle Mariners (Ian Snell, 2-8, 5.19)

Atlanta Braves (Kenshin Kawakami, 5-9, 4.38) at Los Angeles Dodgers (Clayton Kershaw, 8-6, 2.89)

The rundown:

A potential pitchers duel with big implications in the AL West.  The Rangers are 3.5 games behind the Angels and they won last night.  Today, it's Kevin Millwood against Jered Weaver.  Millwood, overall, is having a good season, his last start against the Angels, not so good.  5 innings, 9 runs.  Against the Angels this season he is 1-1 with 1 no decision.  Jered Weaver is putting together a very good season as well.  With a record of 11-3 and a not so dominating ERA of 3.79, Weaver has pitched good enough to win, he does have tendency to give up the long ball, surrendering 19 in 142.1 innings.  Last time he faced the Rangers, he struck out 9 in 7 innings, and picked up the win.  This season against Texas he is 1-1 with 1 no decision.

The notables:

CC Sabathia faces Boston today and he'll be looking for innings, Cy Young candidate Danny Haren takes on the Washington Nationals, Cole Hamels looks to beat the Marlins and turn his season around, Justin Verlander faces the Twins, Adam Wainwright takes on the Pirates, Zack Greinke had a sub-par outing last time, tonight he takes on the A's, Jason Marquis will continue his great season against the Cubs, James Shields will face the Mariners and Clayton Kershaw rounds out the evening by facing the Braves.

Great game yesterday for the Phillies, Cliff Lee didn't bring his best, but, being the ace that he is, he didn't need his best.  Brad Lidge was the best i've seen him all year as well.

Pitchers who went 7 innings: Cliff Lee (W, 6 hits, 1 run, 1 walk, 9 K's), Tommy Hunter (W, 3 hits, 3 runs - 2 earned, 2 walks, 4 K's), Jason Vargas (L, 9 hits, 8 runs - 7 earned, 3 walks, 0 K's), Randy Wolf (ND, 9 hits, 4 runs, 3 walks, 4 K's)

The Duel of Yesterday: Nick Blackburn v. Fausto Carmona

The matchups:

Boston Red Sox (Josh Beckett, 13-4, 3.27) at New York Yankees (A.J. Burnett, 10-5, 3.89)

Arizona Diamondbacks (Jon Garland, 6-10, 4.26) at Washington Nationals (Collin Balester, 1-1, 3.68)

Minnesota Twins (Anthony Swarzak, 3-4, 4.25) at Detroit Tigers (Armando Galarraga, 5-10, 5.22)

St. Louis Cardinals (Chris Carpenter, 10-3, 2.10) at Pittsburgh Pirates (Paul Maholm, 6-6, 4.75)

Baltimore Orioles (Jason Berken, 1-9, 6.93) at Toronto Blue Jays (Ricky Romero, 10-4, 3.53)

Florida Marlins (Ricky Nolasco, 7-7, 5.00) at Philadelphia Phillies (Joe Blanton, 7-5, 4.02)

Milwaukee Brewers (Carlos Villanueva, 2-8, 5.98) at Houston Astros (Bud Norris, 1-0, 0.90)

Oakland Athletics (Vin Mazzaro, 2-8, 5.73) at Kansas City Royals (Brian Bannister, 7-7, 3.59)

Cleveland Indians (Jeremy Sowers, 3-7, 4.97) at Chicago White Sox (Mark Buehrle, 11-5, 3.79)

Chicago Cubs (Carlos Zambrano, 7-4, 3.35) at Colorado Rockies (Ubaldo Jimenez, 8-9, 3.76)

Texas Rangers (Scott Feldman, 10-4, 3.91) at Los Angeles Angels (Joe Saunders, 9-6, 5.07)

New York Mets (Oliver Perez, 2-3, 7.03) at San Diego Padres (Kevin Correia, 7-9, 4.73)

Tampa Bay Rays (Jeff Niemann, 10-5, 3.62) at Seattle Mariners (Felix Hernandez, 12-4, 2.78)

Atlanta Braves (Jair Jurrjens, 9-8, 2.85) at Los Angeles Dodgers (Chad Billingsley, 11-6, 3.82)

Cincinnati Reds (Homer Bailey, 2-3, 7.06) at San Francisco Giants (Tim Lincecum, 12-3, 2.18)

The rundown:

    It's Red Sox/Yankees, it's former teammates, it's got playoff implications, and it could be a good pitchers duel.  Josh Beckett is having another season of domination (has anyone else noticed that he goes like every other year?), in his last 8 starts he is 6-1, with 2 complete game shutouts.  A.J. Burnett is having a bit of a different season, before he got slammed in his last start, he was 7-1 dating back to the last time he faced Boston.  I think the excitement of the game will turn in some emotion-on-your-sleeve performances.

    In a battle of aces, Carlos Zambrano will take on Ubaldo Jimenez.  In his last start, Zambrano left with a stiff back after only 3 innings, his season hasn't been much to write home about, but his ERA is still very good at 3.35, but he's hovering around only 6 innings per start.  Ubaldo Jimenez would like a better record, but he's been able to keep that ERA under 4.00, he's coming off a good start in Cincinnati and he'll look to have that carry over.

    Jeff Niemann has been the surprise of the season for the Rays, he has been incredible.  Originally he was slated to be no better that the 5th starter, but he has become a staple in that rotation.  3 of his last 4 starts have been 8 innings or more, one being a complete game shutout, I look for him to do really good against the Mariners.  Speaking of the Mariners, they are throwing Felix Hernandez to the hill, and what can you say?  His ERA was on a nice little roll, getting to 2.45, and then he got rocked for 7 runs in Toronto, but the guy is still having a great season.

The notables:

Chris Carpenter will face the Pirates, Ricky Romero takes on the Orioles, Brian Bannister has the A's to contend with, Mr. Perfect 2009 Mark Buehrle faces division rival Cleveland, Scott Feldman is have a good campaign with the Rangers and he's facing the Angels, Jair Jurrjens and Chad Billingsley are facing off again, it could be good, Tim Lincecum rounds out the day against the Cincinnati Reds

The winner:

I think you have to take Beckett/Burnett just because it's Red Sox/Yankees, but you could always catch the Niemann/Hernandez game afterwards

So it's now the next morning and i'm still all fired up about one James Anthony Happ.  I read the most recent article, and it turns out, even after that, they are still willing to dispatch of Happ for Pedro Martinez.  I am so disgusted right now, I just want them to cut ties with Pedro, why change what works?

Pitchers who went 7 innings: Doug Davis (W, 4 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks, 5 K's), Jeremy Guthrie (7.1 innings, L, 6 hits, 3 runs, 2 walks, 3 K's)

Pitchers who went 8 innings: Edwin Jackson (W, 3 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks, 8 K's), Aaron Laffey (W, 6 hits, 1 run - 0 earned, 1 walk, 5 K's), Gavin Floyd (W, 6 hits, 2 runs - 1 earned, 1 walk, 6 K's)

Pitchers who went 9 innings: J.A. Happ (W, 8-2, 4 hits, 0 runs, 2 walks, 10 K's, 2.74 ERA, 1.12 WHIP, .222 AVG), Justin Lehr (W, 4 hits, 0 runs, 1 walk, 4 K's)

The Duel of Yesterday: J.A. Happ (in all actuality it was Jeremy Guthrie v. Edwin Jackson)

The matchups:

Minnesota Twins (Nick Blackburn, 8-5, 3.83) at Cleveland Indians (Fausto Carmona, 2-6, 7.13)

Florida Marlins (Chris Volstad, 8-9, 4.35) at Washington Nationals (Craig Stammen, 3-6, 4.96)

Baltimore Orioles (David Hernandez, 3-3, 3.28) at Detroit Tigers (Rick Porcello, 9-7, 4.36)

Colorado Rockies (Aaron Cook, 10-3, 3.88) at Philadelphia Phillies (Cliff Lee, 8-9, 3.02)

Los Angeles Angels (Ervin Santana, 3-6, 7.31) at Chicago White Sox (John Danks, 9-7, 4.00)

Texas Rangers (Tommy Hunter, 3-2, 2.63) at Oakland Athletics (Trevor Cahill, 6-10, 5.01)

Arizona Diamondbacks (Max Scherzer, 6-6, 3.80) at Pittsburgh Pirates (Kevin Hart, 3-1, 2.60)

Boston Red Sox (John Smoltz, 2-4, 7.12) at New York Yankees (Joba Chamberlain, 7-2, 3.58)

Seattle Mariners (Jason Vargas, 3-5, 4.71) at Kansas City Royals (Bruce Chen, 0-6, 5.73)

New York Mets (Livan Hernandez, 7-5, 4.77) at San Diego Padres (Clayton Richard, 4-3, 4.47)

Atlanta Braves (Derek Lowe, 11-7, 4.21) at Los Angeles Dodgers (Randy Wolf, 5-6, 3.47)

The rundown:

Ah, the sweet smell of an ace, since Cole Hamels has not been ace-like this season, it feels good to have one.  Cliff Lee will take on the Rockies today and look to duplicate his phenominal first start (which I missed because I was on vacation).  I am so pumped for this game, especially after last night, Happ had the everyone standing by the time the 9th inning started.  Aaron Cook cannot be overlooked though, this guy knows what he's doing, he's been a solid starter for a while now, and he has a good record and ERA this year.  Cliff Lee looks to get to .500 on the season, which he deserves to be, and if he pitches good enough, he can drop that ERA below 3.00.

The notables:

Nick Blackburn will face Fausto Carmona, which has potential duel possibility, I like what I see out of Chris Volstad, he's going to face the Nationals, Rick Porcello has sparked some interest this year, he'll take on the Orioles, Tommy Hunter is still having a pretty good season, he'll face the A's, Joba Chamberlain has improved his season and he'll have the Red Sox tonight, Derek Lowe will face Randy Wolf in another potential pitchers duel.

A complete game shutout of the Colorado Rockies, striking out 10 batters, giving up 4 hits.  Throughout the telecast (the Rockies feed) there were talks about how Pedro Martinez was pitching in Reading and his next start will most likely be in the MLB.  As I heard earlier, J.A. Happ is the likely choice for the odd man out and into the bullpen, could someone tell me why?  No, nobody can, i've said it plenty of times, Happ has been our best pitcher this season, his ERA coming in the the game was 2.96, his record was 7-2, hitters were batting in the .220's against him, and his WHIP was 1.16.  His record is now 8-2, and I don't know about the rest because the game just ended and i'm all fired up.  It will be a severe injustice if Happ is removed for a worthless hack like Pedro Martinez, apparantly he struck out like 11 hitters in AA, and gave up 4 runs, good job Pedro, you really showed them.  Bottom line, the Phillies do not need Pedro Martinez, the addition of Cliff Lee made this possible.  I just think nothing good can come from removing Happ, who has pitched so good.  Who are the Phillies to mess with the baseball gods?  You can't go and screw up a good thing.

Pitchers who went 7 innings: Josh Johnson (ND, 6 hits, 4 runs, 0 walks, 9 K's), Scott Baker (W, 3 hits, 0 runs, 1 walk, 4 K's), Matt Garza (ND, 3 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks, 6 K's), Tom Gorzelanny (W, 3 hits, 1 run, 1 walk, 6 K's), Jonathan Sanchez (W, 4 hits, 0 runs, 3 walks, 8 K's), Javier Vazquez (W, 4 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks, 6 K's)

Pitchers who went 8 innings: Yusmeiro Petit (W, 1 hit, 0 runs, 3 walks, 4 K's), Johan Santana (ND, 9 hits, 5 runs, 0 walks, 6 K's), John Lackey (ND, 5 hits, 4 runs - 3 earned, 2 walks, 7 K's)

Pitchers who went 9 innings: Roy Halladay (L, 10 hits, 5 runs - 4 earned, 0 walks, 5 K's)

The Duel of Yesterday: Jon Lester v. Matt Garza

The matchups:

St. Louis Cardinals (Kyle Lohse, 4-6, 4.14) at New York Mets (Jon Niese, 1-1, 4.50)

San Francisco Giants (Joe Martinez, 1-0, 6.75) at Houston Astros (Brian Moehler, 7-6, 4.99)

Atlanta Braves (Tommy Hanson, 5-2, 3.25) at San Diego Padres (Chad Gaudin, 4-9, 4.76)

Baltimore Orioles (Jeremy Guthrie, 7-10, 5.37) at Detroit Tigers (Edwin Jackson, 7-5, 2.64)

Minnesota Twins (Francisco Liriano, 4-10, 5.56) at Cleveland Indians (Aaron Laffey, 4-3, 4.08)

Arizona Diamondbacks (Doug Davis, 5-10, 3.73) at Pittsburgh Pirates (Ross Ohlendorf, 9-8, 4.43)

Colorado Rockies (Jorge De La Rosa, 9-7, 4.68) at Philadelphia Phillies (J.A. Happ, 7-2, 2.97)

Florida Marlins (Rick VandenHurk, 1-0, 2.65) at Washington Nationals (John Lannan, 7-8, 3.41)

New York Yankees (Sergio Mitre, 1-0, 7.90) at Toronto Blue Jays (Marc Rzepczynski, 1-2, 3.25)

Boston Red Sox (Brad Penny, 7-5, 5.07) at Tampa Bay Rays (David Price, 4-4, 5.10)

Chicago Cubs (Rich Harden, 7-6, 4.50) at Cincinnati Reds (Justin Lehr, 0-0, 5.40)

Seattle Mariners (Lucas French, 1-2, 3.38) at Kansas City Royals (Kyle Davies, 3-7, 5.76)

Los Angeles Angels (Sean O'Sullivan. 3-0, 3.72) at Chicago White Sox (Gavin Floyd, 8-6, 4.07)

Texas Rangers (Vicente Padilla, 8-5, 4.66) at Oakland Athletics (Chad Reineke - First Start)

Milwaukee Brewers (Braden Looper, 9-5, 5.03) at Los Angeles Dodgers (Jason Schmidt, 2-1, 4.50)

The rundown:

Well, nothing looks all that good actually, the best I saw was Jorge De La Rosa v. J.A. Happ, De La Rosa has incredible ability, he can strikeout guys with the best of them, his control is spotty at times though.  J.A. Happ has been great, his last two decisions have been losses, but no matter.  I heard that Happ might be the odd man out to make room for Pedro Martinez, and I was absolutly infuriated.  J.A. Happ has proved to this team that he should have been the starter out of Spring Training, and when he got the job, he ran with it, and now they want to stop all this, for Pedro freakin' Martinez.  The second we got Cliff Lee was the second Pedro should have kissed his contract goodbye, if they put Pedro in and knock Happ out, they I will be ranting much more.

The notables:

Young stud Tommy Hanson takes on the San Diego Padres, Edwin Jackson will look to continue his miracle season against the Orioles, John Lannan has again been the best pitcher for the Nationals, he'll face the Marlins, and Rich Harden looks to impress me against the Reds.

Kazmir did his part, it's a shame that Greinke did not.

Pitchers who went 7 innings: Dan Haren (W, 8 hits, 5 runs, 1 walk, 3 K's), Randy Wells (7.1 innings, W, 6 hits, 1 run, 2 walks, 5 K's), Aaron Harang (7.1 innings, L, 6 hits, 4 runs, 2 walks, 10 K's), Mat Latos (W, 6 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks, 3 K's), Brett Anderson (7.2 innings, ND, 6 hits, 2 runs, 3 walks, 8 K's)

Pitchers who went 8 innings: Justin Verlander (ND, 9 hits, 5 runs, 1 walk, 8 K's), Matt Cain (L, 8 hits, 4 runs, 0 walks, 5 K's), Manny Parra (W, 8 hits, 4 runs, 1 walk, 4 K's)

The Duel of Yesterday: Randy Wells v. Aaron Harang

The matchups:

Baltimore Orioles (Brian Matusz - First Start) at Detroit Tigers (Jarrod Washburn, 8-6, 2.64)

Arizona Diamondbacks (Yusmeiro Petit, 1-5, 6.75) at Pittsburgh Pirates (Zach Duke, 9-9, 3.26)

Minnesota Twins (Scott Baker, 8-7, 4.86) at Cleveland Indians (David Huff, 5-5, 6.39)

Colorado Rockies (Jason Hammel, 5-6, 4.66) at Philadelphia Phillies (Jamie Moyer, 10-7, 5.32)

Florida Marlins (Josh Johnson, 10-2, 2.87) at Washington Nationals (J.D. Martin, 0-2, 7.50)

New York Yankees (Andy Pettitte, 8-6, 4.51) at Toronto Blue Jays (Roy Halladay, 11-4, 2.68)

Boston Red Sox (Jon Lester, 9-7, 3.90) at Tampa Bay Rays (Matt Garza, 7-8, 3.69)

Chicago Cubs (Tom Gorzelanny, 3-1, 5.19) at Cincinnati Reds (Johnny Cueto, 8-8, 4.06)

St. Louis Cardinals (Joel Pineiro, 9-9, 2.84) at New York Mets (Johan Santana, 12-8, 2.96)

San Francisco Giants (Jonathan Sanchez, 4-9, 4.81) at Houston Astros (Felipe Paulino, 2-5, 7.04)

Seattle Mariners (Ryan Rowland-Smith, 1-1, 3.12) at Kansas City Royals (Luke Hochevar, 6-4, 5.28)

Los Angeles Angels (John Lackey, 7-4, 4.00) at Chicago White Sox (Jose Contreras, 4-10, 4.80)

Atlanta Braves (Javier Vazquez, 8-7, 3.01) at San Diego Padres (Tim Stauffer, 1-2, 2.57)

Texas Rangers (Derek Holland, 4-6, 5.56) at Oakland Athletics (Gio Gonzalez, 2-2, 7.38)

Milwaukee Brewers (Yovani Gallardo, 10-7, 3.13) at Los Angeles Dodgers (Hiroki Kuroda, 3-5, 4.44)

The rundown:

There are some matchups that are very close to being featured, but i've decided against it.  This is the only one i've found that looks good on paper.  We all know what Johan Santana does year in and year out, but what's not so familiar is what Joel Pineiro is doing this season.  Out of the blue, Pineiro has an ERA of 2.84 in 136.1 innings.  In those innings, he has on 61 strikeouts, which I think is incredible.  Fans love strikeouts, but if you were to be a pitching coach, you would want your pitchers to not worry about K's and just flat out get outs, and he does.  Keep it up Joel Pineiro, I have all the respect for the way you go about your business.  Oh by the way, he has walked all of 15 guys in those 136.1 innings, yeah, 15.

The notables:

Jarrod Washburn will look to continue his late career surge with a new team, Josh Johnson will do his best to annihilate the Nats, Roy Halladay, still in Toronto like I knew he would be, will face off against the Yankees, Jon Lester will face Matt Garza in what could be a pitchers duel, Javier Vazquez takes on the Padres, and Yovani Gallardo and his low run support will take on the Dodgers.

So much for that bold prediction.

Pitchers who went 7 innings: Jason Marquis (ND, 4 hits, 3 runs, 2 walks, 4 K's), Bronson Arroyo (ND, 7 hits, 3 runs, 3 walks, 1 K), Brian Bannister (W, 5 hits, 0 runs, 0 walks, 7 K's), James Shields (L, 7.1 innings, 2 hits, 2 runs - 1 earned, 4 walks, 6 K's), CC Sabathia (W, 10 hits, 5 runs, 0 walks, 5 K's), Bud Norris (W, 2 hits, 0 runs, 4 walks, 5 K's), Adam Wainwright (L, 8 hits, 2 runs, 0 walks, 5 K's), Ricky Romero (W, 8 hits, 2 runs, 1 walk, 5 K's), Ricky Nolasco (ND, 4 hits, 1 run, 1 walk, 8 K's), Scott Feldman (W, 5 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks, 4 K's)

Pitchers who went 8 innings: Carl Pavano (W, 7 hits, 1 run, 1 walk, 4 K's)

Pitchers who went 9 innings: Jon Garland (W, 7 hits, 2 runs, 0 walks, 2 K's)

Duel of Yesterday - Brian Bannister v. James Shields

The matchups:

Kansas City Royals (Zack Greinke, 10-6, 2.08) at Tampa Bay Rays (Scott Kazmir, 5-6, 6.22)

Washington Nationals (Garrett Mock, 0-4, 7.09) at Pittsburgh Pirates (Charlie Morton, 2-3, 3.72)

Baltimore Orioles (Chris Tillman, 0-0, 5.79) at Detroit Tigers (Justin Verlander, 12-5, 3.16)

Arizona Diamondbacks (Dan Haren, 10-6, 2.19) at New York Mets (Nelson Figueroa, 0-1, 4.50)

Chicago Cubs (Randy Wells, 7-4, 2.84) at Cincinnati Reds (Aaron Harang, 5-12, 4.50)

San Francisco Giants (Matt Cain, 12-2, 2.12) at Houston Astros (Mike Hampton, 6-8, 5.36)

Texas Rangers (Dustin Nippert, 3-0, 3.38) at Oakland Athletics (Brett Anderson, 6-8, 4.33)

Atlanta Braves (Kenshin Kawakami, 5-8, 4.37) at San Diego Padres (Mat Latos, 2-1, 2.70)

Milwaukee Brewers (Manny Parra, 5-8, 6.50) at Los Angeles Dodgers (Clayton Kershaw, 8-5, 2.76)

The rundown:

I will continue to feature Scott Kazmir on here, because I know who is really is and i'm waiting to see it.  This one has the possibility of being so good if we can get this year's Greinke and 2007's Kazmir.  Yesterday's matchup went really good and I hope that this one goes even better, it has the potential, that's for sure.

The notables:

Justin Verlander faces the hapless Orioles who just has 18 scored on them, Danny Haren goes up against the Mets after a complete game by Jon Garland yesterday, Matt Cain, with run support, has been incredible and he'll face the Astros, and Clayton Kershaw takes on the Brewers.

Oh how good it feels to be back.  I didn't realize how much I truly loved baseball until I was unable to watch it for a week, I was dying on the inside.  I did go to two live games, which were a lot of fun.  Free baseball in both games as Padres/Nationals went to the 10th and Royals/Orioles went to the 11th.  That Cliff Lee trade blew my mind, i'm still rather disappointed they gave up Lou Marson, because I think he can be a much better backup that Paul Bako (I wonder why?).  Regardless, an amazing start by Lee and i'm hoping for many many more.

Pitchers who went 7 innings: Josh Beckett (W, 6 hits, 0 runs, 2 walks, 5 K's), Felix Hernandez (W, 6 hits, 2 runs, 4 walks, 2 K's), Joe Blanton (L, 7 hits, 2 runs, 0 walks, 5 K's), Brett Cecil (W, 6 hits, 4 runs, 1 walk, 3 K's) 

Pitchers who went 8 innings: Jeff Niemann (W, 4 hits, 1 run, 0 walks, 7 K's), Rick Porcello (ND, 4 hits, 1 run, 1 walk, 3 K's), Ubaldo Jimenez (W, 5 hits, 2 runs, 0 walks, 8 K's), Tim Lincecum (W, 7 hits, 0 runs, 1 walk, 8 K's)

Pitchers who went 9 innings: Chris Carpenter (W, 8 hits, 1 run, 0 walks, 5 K's)

The matchups:

Detroit Tigers (Armando Galarraga, 5-9, 4.84) at Cleveland Indians (Carl Pavano, 8-8, 5.66)

Arizona Diamondbacks (Jon Garland, 5-10, 4.42) at New York Mets (Mike Pelfrey, 8-6, 4.72)

Colorado Rockies (Jason Marquis, 12-7, 3.47) at Cincinnati Reds (Bronson Arroyo, 10-10, 5.17)

Boston Red Sox (Clay Buchholz, 1-1, 3.52) at Baltimore Orioles (Jason Berken, 1-8, 6.21)

Washington Nationals (Collin Balester, 1-1, 4.00) at Pittsburgh Pirates (Paul Maholm, 6-5, 4.70)

Kansas City Royals (Brian Bannister, 6-7, 3.80) at Tampa Bay Rays (James Shields, 6-7, 3.87)

New York Yankees (CC Sabathia, 10-7, 3.83) at Chicago White Sox (Mark Buehrle, 11-4, 3.45)

Los Angeles Angels (Jered Weaver, 10-3, 3.71) at Minnesota Twins (Glen Perkins, 6-6, 5.42)

Houston Astros (Bud Norris, 0-0, 3.00) at St. Louis Cardinals (Adam Wainwright, 12-6, 2.80)

Milwaukee Brewers (Carlos Villanueva, 2-8, 6.61) at San Diego Padres (Kevin Correia, 7-8, 4.75)

Philadelphia Phillies (Cole Hamels, 7-5, 4.42) at San Francisco Giants (Barry Zito, 6-10, 4.54)

Toronto Blue Jays (Ricky Romero, 9-4, 3.59) at Oakland Athletics (Vin Mazzaro, 2-7, 5.16)

Chicago Cubs (Ryan Dempster, 5-5, 4.31) at Florida Marlins (Ricky Nolasco, 7-7, 5.24)

Los Angeles Dodgers (Chad Billingsley, 10-6, 3.96) at Atlanta Braves (Jair Jurrjens, 9-7, 2.69)

Seattle Mariners (Ian Snell, 2-8, 5.36) at Texas Rangers (Scott Feldman, 9-4, 3.99)

The rundown:

I still like the Bannister v. Shields matchup, I think both of these guys can be even better than they are now.  I actually saw Bannister pitch when I was in Camden Yards last week, he got a no deciscion and pitched alright.  For some reason I can see this being a fairly good duel.  Shields is a well known workhorse, which is a great quality to have.  Bannister can be just as good, he just has the tendancy to leave his curveball very high.

CC Sabathia and Mark Buehrle, this one will be good.  CC hasn't been quite as dominant as he was last season, but he is still CC Sabathia.  Mark Buehrle can't really be any better than he has been as of late.  I'm going to make a bold prediction right now, both of these guys are pitching into the 8th inning, I just have a feeling.  What better way to spend a Sunday?

I'm not a huge fan of Billingsley, but he is the ace of the Dodgers pitching staff, and he knows what he's doing.  Jair Jurrjens, on the other hand, is someone i'm a big fan of, with his ERA, his record deserves to be better.  I'm not sure if this is the ESPN game or if it's Mariners/Rangers (usually there aren't two 8:00 games on Sunday), but I think this is the one to watch.

The notables:

Jason Marquis looks to continue his incredible season against the Reds, one of my favorite's Jered Weaver takes on the Twins, Adam Wainwright has been incredible; he'll take on the Astros, Cole Hamels will face Barry Zito in a potential pitchers duel, Ricky Romero takes on the A's, and Scott Feldman, who has been pretty good, will face the Mariners.

The winner:

Sabathia/Buehrle looks to be pretty good and I did make that bold prediction, i'm just looking forward to watching baseball again.