Roger Clemens returns to the majors this evening, and Richard Justice is happy:

The hope is that with your return, the Astros will return to the formula that worked last season. If Roy Oswalt stays healthy and Pettitte can get straightened out, the rotation will be as good as almost any.

Is it good enough? Who knows? The Mets and Cardinals are going to get two of the four National League playoff berths, probably leaving the Astros in a scramble with the Reds, Phillies and maybe even the Marlins for the wild card.

In truth, none of us experts really knows how good the Astros are. If you and Andy are solid, the team is good enough to go back to the playoffs. We know just one thing for sure: The chances got a lot better today.

To make it better, his opponent in his return is the up and coming star, Francisco Liriano. The Twins lefty is sporting very Clemens like numbers this season. He's striking out 10.3 per 9 while walking just 2.6 per 9. Since moving to the rotation, he's allowed just one home run in 36 innings. That's lead to a 1.50 ERA as a starter.

Clemens has a long history against the Twins. He's made 42 starts versus Minnesota and complete 1/7 of them with two shutouts. He's 23-12 in those starts with a 3.01 ERA. His strikeouts are a bit low compared to his career (7.9 per 9 vs. the Twins, 8.6 overall) but he's only allowed 16 home runs against them in 299 1/3 innings.

Enjoy!