The Angels and Yankees play a make-up game at Yankee Stadium with Jered Weaver facing Joba Chamberlain for at least three innings. Weaver’s walks go way up on the road, as do his hits allowed, leading to an ERA two runs higher away from Anaheim. I wonder if there is something to the hitter’s background in Anaheim that plays into Weaver’s delivery, making the ball tougher to see? Joba hasn’t pitched that well since the move to limit his innings in a game. He’s giving up a lot of hits, although I wonder how much that has to do without getting a chance to settle down.

Texas needs to make hay against a weak Oakland team to stay in the wild card race. They’ll start a three-game series tonight with Scott Feldman hosting Brett Tomko. Brett has shown better control since moving from the Yankees bullpen to the Oakland rotation, his ERA over a run lower with the Athletics. Feldman has a tendency to give up home runs in Texas, which gives him a bloated home ERA.

One thing that should help the Dodgers remain in first place in the NL West is that they play ten of their next 13 games against last place teams. They face the Pittsburgh Pirates for the first time this season this evening. Daniel McCutchen makes the third start of his career against Jon Garland, making his third start for Los Angeles. Garland pitched well since the start of June, posting a .355 ERA but just a 5-7 record. He’s shown great control in that time, walking just 2.3 batters per nine innings. McCutchen’s walks and strikeouts look good so far, but he’s given up three home runs in just 13 innings.

Finally, it’s do or die for the Giants in the NL Wild Card race as they play their final three games against Colorado. Even if they sweep the Rockies again, they’ll still need help to make the playoffs. Jason Hammel takes on ML ERA leader Tim Lincecum. Hammel pitched well in his three starts against the Giants, holding San Francisco to a 2.65 ERA. He only has an 0-1 record to show for it however. Lincecum returns after missing a start with a back problem. He’s 8-1 with a 1.83 ERA at home this year, and has a 1.80 ERA in two starts against the Rockies. Amazingly, he’s 1-1 in those two games.

Enjoy!