Jason Heyward leads the Braves against Stephen Strasburg. Photo: Icon SMI
The night opens with a rookie battle as Baseball Jesus takes on the Jay-Hey kid. Stephen Strasburg‘s only loss in his first nine starts came against the Braves, and Atlanta is the first major league team he’ll see twice. Strasburg walked two and struck out seven in that game, but Atlanta managed four runs off him, three of the earned in 6 1/3 innings. Jason Heyward was injured at the time, so this will be the first time two of the biggest hyped rookies will face each other. Heyward has hit in nine straight games, posting a .486 BA and a .571 OBP. Maybe Strasburg will try to “paste this pathetic palooka with a powerful, paralyzing, perfect pachydermous percussion pitch“.
Adam Wainwright has a good chance of lowering his 1.94 ERA as the faces the hapless Mets offense with Jonathon Niese on the mound. Wainwright comes into the game with a scoreless streak of 25 innings and has only allowed one run in July. Niese holds very good walk and strikeout rates. Citi Field helps him prevent home runs as only four of his 12 allowed came at home.
Stephen Strasburg owns a Bugs Bunny fastball and changeup. Photo: Icon SMI
The Oakland Athletics open a three game series in Texas, trailing the Rangers by 7 1/2 games. They faces Texas enough down the stretch to make up the deficit, but a three-game sweep would make the rest of the season’s chase much easier. The teams open with Gio Gonzalez facing Cliff Lee. Gio was lit up in his only start against Texas this season, giving up nine hits and four runs in four innings of work. Lee’s control is even better since joining the Rangers, with one walk in 26 1/3 innings.
The west coast features three outstanding games, starting with John Lackey returning to Anaheim as Boston takes on Jered Weaver. Lackey seems to have righted himself since the All-Star break, with three runs allowed in 15 innings, one of them unearned. He’s struck out nine and walked three. Weaver took over as the ace of the Angels staff and is nearly unhittable at home with a .198 BA allowed and a .542 OPS.
The Dodgers try to make their move on San Diego as they send Chad Billingsley against Jon Garland. In his one start against the Padres this season, Chad pitched 7 1/3 shutout innings, allowing four hits while striking out six. Garland is in his sweet spot pitching at home, where his 2.51 ERA led to a 5-1 record.
Finally, the Marlins face the Giants as they continue to work their way up the wild card ladder. NL ERA leader Josh Johnson takes on Matt Cain. Since May 13th, Johnson made 13 starts, and in only one of them did he allow as many as two runs. That’s good for a 0.79 ERA. Cain has done a superb job against lefties this season, holding them to a .219 BA and a .288 OBP, both slightly better than he’s done against right-hand batters.
Enjoy!