The three early games today all involve postseason contenders and include games from two major series.
18.07. Angels @ Blue Jays – Santana (6-6), Richmond (6-6)
21.10. Cubs @ Dodgers – Lilly (9-7), Haeger (0-1)
21.10. Yankees @ Red Sox – Burnett (10-6), Tazawa (1-2)
All times are in BST.Â
While the Blue Jays’ 56-63 record leaves them adrift in the AL East, the Angels sit at the top of the AL West. Their 5.5 game lead over the Rangers is a decent margin, but they’ve lost their last two games and won’t want to give Texas any further encouragement. Toronto took an early 5-0 lead in yesterday’s game and held off a late rally to win 5-4. Ervin Santana is charged with leading the Angels’ fight-back and he gained a win against the Orioles in his last time out.
The Cubs and Dodgers will play the third game of a four-game series today in L.A. The home team have won both of the first two, with last night’s win owing much to their starter Randy Wolf. He pitched seven strong innings, giving up just one hit and one run in the process, and drove in two runs with a double in the second inning. Those runs were the only ones conceded by Randy Wells and the Cubs’ bullpen, but it proved to be enough as Chicago could only muster one run in response.
Today’s game offers us the chance to watch a knuckleball pitcher at work, which is always a fun sight to see (not so much fun to catch or hit, however). Charlie Haeger will hope his butterfly pitches are fluttering freely past the Cubs’ bats rather than flying out of the ballpark. Ted Lilly makes his second start since coming off the DL for the Cubs.
The third game is absolutely crucial for the Red Sox. The Yankees annihilated their rivals yesterday in a 20-11 victory after sweeping them over four-games earlier in the month. Although the Rangers’ loss meant that Boston still leads the Wild Card race, they need a morale-boosting victory today to get their season back on track. Junichi Tazawa gave up a walk-off home run to Alex Rodriguez in his Major League debut two weeks ago and will want to make amends with a big performance in his second start at Fenway.
All the above games can be followed via various resources on MLB.com (Gameday, Gameday Audio and MLB.tv). ESPN America unsurprisingly will broadcast the Yankees-Red Sox game live at 21.00.
