The Yankees go for a sweep of the Athletics as CC Sabathia faces Dallas Braden. Both own identical 2-0 records and nearly identical ERAs. Both come by their low ERAs with a combination of high strikeouts, low walks and low hits allowed. Opponents are hitting .156 against CC with an OPS of .445. Braden’s numbers come in at .174 for opponents BA and a .509 OPS.

Ubaldo Jimenez gets a chance to match Johnny Vander Meer's feat of consecutive no-hitters. Photo: Icon SMI

The Rockies’ Ubaldo Jimenez takes his no-hit stuff against the Washington Nationals and the 0.00 ERA of Livan Hernandez. Ubaldo has been a bit wild, walking 10 in 21 innings, but most of those came with the bases empty. Hernandez has not allowed any runs, but his 5 walks four strikeouts is worrying. I never like to see those two stats in parity for a pitcher. His years of experience are shining through, however, as he fools hitters enough to hold them to a .161 BA.

There seems to be less of a chance of a slugfest at Fenway today as C.J. Wilson leads the Rangers against Clay Buchholz and the Red Sox. Wilson pitched well in two starts since moving from the pen to the rotation. He hasn’t lost his ability to strike out more than nine batters per nine innings. Righties do a good job of getting on base against him, but they haven’t hit him for power. Buchholz is having a bend, don’t break season so far. His opponents batting numbers would indicate a higher ERA, but Clay has allowed a .133 BA (2 for 15) with runners in scoring position.

Finally, the Cubs and Mets play the rubber game of their series with Tom Gorzelanny facing Johan Santana in a battle of lefties. Tom’s problems in the past often resulted from a high home run rate, but he’s yet to allow a long ball this season. Santana bounced back from a poor second start of the season to pitch seven shutout innings in his last appearance, striking out nine and walking one.

Enjoy!