The Reds and Cubs offer a great pitching duel as rookie Tony Cingrani takes on Chicago ace Jeff Samardzija. Cingrani is blowing away the opposition with 28 K in just 20 innings of work. Left handers can’t touch him, and right-handers hit like Karen Valentine against him. Jeff is pitching much the same way, but the Cubs scored just 15 runs in his six starts.

Stephen Strasburg takes on Jeff Locke as the Nationals continue their series with the Pirates. Strasburg is posting excellent three-true outcome numbers this season, but like Samardzija, he’s not getting any run support. The Nationals scored just 11 runs for him so far. His strikeouts are down, and he seems to no longer be Baseball Jesus. When Strasburg first went to spring training, hitters would get in the box against him, watch a pitch go by, shake their heads and say, “Jesus!” I don’t see that when I watch Stephen this year. He’s still very good, but I don’t see the wow factor pitch after pitch. Of course, if someone can post that kind of control without a wow factor, it gives one an idea of how good he is. Locke brings 13 consecutive scoreless inning into the game. He allowed just five hits in that time, and his strikeouts are inching up.

Finally, for those who like mature pitchers, John Lackey faces Alexi Ogando as the Red Sox battle the Rangers. Lackey’s injury set back seemed minor as he came back with a strong performance against the Astros. Ogando makes just his second appearance at home this season. He only lasted 5 1/3 innings in his first one, as he was a bit wild.

Enjoy!