Saturday’s early MLB games: Hudson-Lincecum headliner

We very nearly got our first no-hitter of the season last night.  The Marlins’ Anibal Sanchez has done it before and came oh-so-close to repeating the trick against the Rockies, only for Dexter Fowler to break up the no-no in the ninth inning. 

Maybe we’ll get a no-hitter today?  David Price, Chris Carpenter, Tim Hudson and Tim Lincecum would seem the most likely contenders in the early games, but then again it’s not always the big names that make history, and that’s one of the great things about baseball.  Edwin Jackson got one of the strangest no-hitters last year (walking 8 hitters and throwing 149 pitches), while Brandon Morrow came close to one in 2010 as well. 

Barry Enright and Dillon Gee both look unlikely contenders, but who knows what today might bring for them?

Here are the early games, those starting before midnight UK time, that are taking place today.  All times are in BST.

18.05. LA Dodgers at Chicago Cubs (Ted Lilly – Ryan Dempster)

Ted Lilly returns to Wrigley to take on one of his former clubs.  He enters the game on the back of his best start so far this season in which he pitched seven scoreless innings against the Braves on Monday.  Ryan Dempster is seeking a similar performance to get his season on track after battling through his first four starts.  The Dodgers took the series opener 12-2 yesterday after the sides waited out a rain delay.

18.07. Tampa Bay at Toronto (David Price – Brandon Morrow)

John McDonald hit a walk-off homer in the eleventh inning last night to give the Blue Jays a 6-4 victory.  Toronto will be glad to get that win on the board before facing David Price today.  The Rays’ ace was in top form last time out, dominating the White Sox over eight scoreless innings.  Morrow is making his season debut today after dealing with an elbow injury. 

18.10. Cleveland at Minnesota (Fausto Carmona – Brian Duensing)

The Indians and Twins were rained out last night, so Carmona and Duensing will pitch the series opener today instead.  The two teams are at opposite ends of the AL Central.  That was expected by many, but it was supposed to be the Indians propping up the division and the reigning-champion Twins leading the way.  The Tribe are hoping Carmona can keep their excellent start to their season going today, while prolonging the Twins’ struggles.

18.10. Arizona at NY Mets (Barry Enright – Dillon Gee)

The Mets received a much-need decent display from Mike Pelfrey yesterday as they beat the D-Backs 4-1 at Citi Field.  That victory took their season record to 7-13 which is still joint-worst in the Majors (alongside the Houston Astros), so there’s plenty of work for the Amazins’ to do before they even become respectable. 

Enright and Gee are not exactly headliners to catch your attention, so the reason to watch would be the Mets’ catcher Mike Nickeas, if he’s in the lineup today.  Nickeas represented Great Britain in the 2007 European Baseball Championships and he hit his first big league home run on Thursday.  Nickeas has generally been playing against left-handers and with Enright being (appropriately enough) a righty, that might well take away the one main reason for a neutral Brit to choose this one today.  Sorry D-Backs and Mets fans!

21.10. Chicago White Sox at Detroit (Edwin Jackson – Brad Penny)

The Tigers pounced on Mark Buehrle early yesterday and Justin Verlander took control from there, leading Detroit to a 9-3 victory.  Penny was hit around by the normally offensively-challenged A’s in his most recent start, while Jackson pitched well against the Rays only to take a loss.

21.10. Cincinnati at St. Louis (Travis Wood – Chris Carpenter)

The beat writers have already got ‘Carpenter and Cards cut Wood down to size’ typed on their draft game reports for this one.  That would seem appropriate considering the two pitchers’ contrasting fortunes last time out.  Carpenter went seven strong innings against the Dodgers, while Wood lasted just 3.1 innings against the Pirates.

21.10. Atlanta at San Francisco (Tim Hudson – Tim Lincecum)

You wouldn’t usually expect a battle between two Tims to set the pulse racing, but this is a definite exception.  The Braves’ batters knocked Madison Bumgarner out early last night as Tommy Hanson kept the Giants’ offence in check for a 4-1 win.  San Fran’s bullpen could do with a rest today and there’s a good chance of that happening with Lincecum taking the mound. 

All of these games are available to watch live via the MLB.TV subscription at MLB.com.  ESPN America is concentrating on the NHL playoffs.  The full schedule for today’s games can be found on MLB.com.