The Indians get a test against Houston for the second night in a row as the Astros send Brett Oberholtzer against Zach McAllister. Since the name Oberholtzer refers to someone who lives above wood, it’s appropriate that his four-seam fastball stays up in the strike zone. 🙂 McAllister does get hit hard at home, as eight of the 12 home runs against him were hit in Cleveland.

Two aces who struggled in 2013 face off in New York as Tim Lincecum takes on CC Sabathia as the Giants visit their old New York rivals. Lincecum won two of this three September starts despite a 4.58 ERA in the month. Sabathia has not allowed a long ball in September after giving up five in August, but he walked 10 in 20 2/3 innings.

Cincinnati and Pittsburg trot out their aces as Mat Latos and Francisco Liriano battle for both wild card and division supremacy. Latos has mixed results against Pittsburgh. In four starts, he lasted just 22 2/3 innings. He struck out 27 but walked 10 and allowed four home runs. Liriano lost three of his four starts against the Reds. Like Latos, he hasn’t lasted in the games, just 16 1/3 innings. He struck out 21 and walked seven, and three home runs against him were all solo shots. Of the eight runs he allowed, only five resulted in RBI, so he may have not received much support from his bullpen or fielders.

Jon Lester goes for his 100th career win against Toronto this evening.

Texas sends Martin Perez against Ervin Santana as the Rangers find themselves fending off the Royals in the AL Wild Card race. I’m pretty sure no one marked this as an important series early in the season. 🙂 Perez is a great pitcher to throw against switch hitter, since as a left-hander, he gets better results against right-handed batters. Santana pitched seven scoreless inning against Texas earlier in the year, but did not get a decision.

Enjoy!