Ernie Banks will be happy the Cubs are playing two, although I doubt he likes the split admission format. Kyle Lohse takes the mound for the Cardinals in game one against Carlos Zambrano. Lohse makes his first start in over a month due to a forearm injury. He’s allowed five of his six home runs with men on base this season. Zambrano is pitching well, but he’s just not winning. The Cubs won 9 of his 15 starts, but Carlos only took home the victory in four of them. Chicago scored two runs or less in five of his last seven starts.
The night-cap features Adam Wainwright and Randy Wells. Wainwright is 9 2/3 innings short of his 2008 total, and already exceeded his strikeouts by 19. Wells, in his first season as a starter, shows great control with just 14 walks in 69 innings, 1.8 per 9 innings.
Toronto and Baltimore show off their good, young pitchers as Marc Rzepczynski takes on Brad Bergesen. Rzepczynski pitched well in his debut, striking out seven and allowing just two hits in seven innings. He did walk four, however. Bergesen’s low walk rate represents his strength, as he doesn’t strike out many batters and allows a decent number of home runs.
The Brewers and Dodgers play the rubber game of their series with Clayton Kershaw facing Yovani Gallardo. Kershaw is on a roll, coming into the game with an 11 scoreless inning streak, and has only allowed two runs in his last five starts, picking up three short shutouts along the way. His control isn’t there, as he’s walked 15 in 29 2/3 innings, but he only allowed 17 hits. The Brewers have not scored a run in either of Gallardo’s last two starts, and they’ve scored one run or less for him five times this season.
The Angels go for a sweep of the Yankees as John Lackey hosts CC Sabathia. The Angels are the only American League team with a winning record against the Yankees (regular season) in this decade (2001-2009) at 43-33, .566. The Red Sox are next at 76-81, .484. The Angels own that record despite the fact that the Yankees out-hit them. New York put up a .273/.350/.442 split line, the Angels .287/.344/.428. The Yankees put more men on and hit for more power. The Angels hit .290 with men in scoring position, the Yankees .277, both better than their overall averages. The Angels have only outscored the Yankees by ten runs, however, indicating a .513 winning percentage (note the difference is a result of the last two games). LAnaheim is 14-6, however, in one-run games against the Yankees. I suspect Yankees fans will credit that to a lack of clutch hitting, or just good luck, while Angels fans might point to the ability of Mike Scioscia to manage his team.
Enjoy!