The only good thing about Kenny Rogers returning to pitch today is that he has to face Boston fans. I suspect they'll be very vocal against Mr. Rogers, and might even come up with an appropriate nickname for the lefty. The other good thing is that he has to face the Boston lineup, which might raise his ERA a bit.

Two teams trying to stay in contention send two good, young pitchers to the mound this evening as Arizona faces Florida. Brad Halsey starts for the Diamondbacks. He's pitched well over his last six starts, going 4-0 with a 2.09 ERA, allowing just 1 home run. Jason Vargas is off to a 2-0 start for his career. He's struck out 14 in 17 2/3 innings, leading to a .161 opponents batting average. He has walked eight, however, so his control needs a bit of work.

Enjoy!

You can purchase tickets for these and many other events at the Baseball Musings Ticket Store.