Tagged: Scott Feldman

Duel of the Day – April 6, 2010

Roy Halladay, you are amazing.  I thought I loved you before, but, man, I had no idea.

Pitchers who were good (in my eyes at least) yesterday:
Mark Buehrle: W (1-0), 7 IP, 0 R, 3 K’s, 3 H, 1 BB
Roy Halladay: W (1-0), 7 IP, 1 R, 9 K’s, 6 H, 2 BB
Shaun Marcum: ND (0-0), 7 IP, 3 R, 6 K’s, 2 H, 1 BB – No Hitter into the 7th
Scott Feldman: ND (0-0), 7 IP, 3 R, 3 K’s, 5 H, 0 BB
Dan Haren: W (1-0), 7 IP, 1 R, 4 K’s, 3 H, 0 BB
Tim Lincecum: W (1-0), 7 IP, 0 R, 7 K’s, 4 H, 0 BB

Honorable Mentions:
Johan Santana
Ubaldo Jimenez
Yovani Gallardo

The Matchups:

7:10: Baltimore Orioles (Kevin Millwood, 0-0, -.–) at Tampa Bay Rays (James Shields, 0-0, -.–)

7:10: New York Yankees (A.J. Burnett, 0-0, -.–) at Boston Red Sox (Jon Lester, 0-0, -.–)

8:05: San Francisco Giants (Barry Zito, 0-0, -.–) at Houston Astros (Wandy Rodriguez, 0-0, -.–)

8:10: Colorado Rockies (Greg Smith, 0-0, -.–) at Milwaukee Brewers (Randy Wolf, 0-0, -.–)

9:40: San Diego Padres (Chris Young, 0-0, -.–) at Arizona Diamondbacks (Edwin Jackson, 0-0, -.–)

10:05: Minnesota Twins (Nick Blackburn, 0-0, -.–) at Los Angeles Angels (Joe Saunders, 0-0, -.–)

10:05: Seattle Mariners (Ian Snell, 0-0, -.–) at Oakland Athletics (Dallas Braden, 0-0. -.–)

The most interesting matchup up the day in my opinion in the Burnett/Lester game.  Both of these pitchers have potential to throw No Hitters (oh right, they have), but they aren’t always perfect.  That is especially true for Burnett.  He is one of the best examples of Jekyll and Hyde when it comes to pitchers.  His control will dictate how he does tonight.

Another game to check out would have to be the Giants/Astros.  Zito and Rodriguez are both good pitchers (yes, I said Zito is good), so it could be a good one.

Duel of the Day – Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Hey Phillies fans, are you sick of the Astros too?

Pitchers that went 7 innings: Jair Jurrjens (W, 5 hits, 0 runs, 1 walk, 3 K’s), Aaron Laffey (L, 7.1 innings, 8 hits, 3 runs, 3 walks, 5 K’s)

Pitchers that went 8 innings: Zach Duke (W, 8.2 innings, 4 hits, 1 run, 1 walk, 6 K’s)

Pitchers that went 9 innings: John Danks (W, 3 hits, 1 run, 1 walk, 7 K’s), Ervin Santana (W, 7 hits, 0 runs, 1 walk, 2 K’s)

Performance of the Day: Zach Duke dominating the Los Angeles Dodgers.  Nobody expected the sub-par Pittsburgh Pirates to do much against the Dodgers.  The Dodgers expected that they could clinch the playoff spot and get it over with.  But hold on just a second.  Pittsburgh rallies for 4 runs in the 9th against Jonathan Broxton on Sunday to win, and then Zach Duke takes the mound.  Duke has been pitching quite well this season, and it’s a shame to see his record where it is (10-15 coming in to the game).  Duke goes ahead and dominates the Dodgers over 8.2 innings.  Nicely done Mr. Duke, there will be no celebrating in Pittsburgh for the Dodgers.

The Matchups:

12:05: Minnesota Twins (Nick Blackburn, 11-11, 4.18) at Detroit Tigers (Rick Porcello, 14-9, 4.14)

7:00: Florida Marlins (Josh Johnson, 15-5, 3.12) at Atlanta Braves (Tim Hudson, 2-1, 3.56)

7:05: Chicago White Sox (Carlos Torres, 1-1, 5.91) at Cleveland Indians (Justin Masterson, 4-9, 4.79)

7:05: Houston Astros (Wilton Lopez, 0-0, 8.44) at Philadelphia Phillies (J.A. Happ, 11-4, 2.79)

7:05: Kansas City Royals (Anthony Lerew, 0-1, 3.86) at New York Yankees (A.J. Burnett, 12-9, 4.19)

7:05: New York Mets (Mike Pelfrey, 10-12, 5.08) at Washington Nationals (J.D. Martin, 5-4, 4.71)

7:05: Minnesota Twins (Brian Duensing, 5-1, 3.33) at Detroit Tigers (Justin Verlander, 17-9, 3.41)

7:08: Baltimore Orioles (Jeremy Guthrie, 10-16, 5.10) at Tampa Bay Rays (Wade Davis, 1-1, 4.07)

7:10: St. Louis Cardinals (Joel Pineiro, 15-11, 3.24) at Cincinnati Reds (Homer Bailey, 6-5, 5.02)

7:10: Toronto Blue Jays (Ricky Romero, 12-9, 4.28) at Boston Red Sox (Clay Buchholz, 7-3, 3.21)

8:05: Pittsburgh Pirates (Kevin Hart, 4-8, 5.38) at Chicago Cubs (Ryan Dempster, 10-8, 3.68)

8:40: Milwaukee Brewers (Chris Narveson, 2-0, 3.82) at Colorado Rockies (Jason Marquis, 15-12, 3.98)

10:05: Texas Rangers (Scott Feldman, 17-6, 3.90) at Los Angeles Angels (Scott Kazmir, 9-9, 5.06)

10:05: Los Angeles Dodgers (Chad Billingsley, 12-10, 4.07) at San Diego Padres (Cesar Ramos, 0-1, 1.69)

10:10: Oakland Athletics (Trevor Cahill, 10-12, 4.45) at Seattle Mariners (Felix Hernandez, 17-5, 2.49)

10:15: Arizona Diamondbacks (Doug Davis, 8-13, 4.09) at San Francisco Giants (Jonathan Sanchez, 7-12, 4.25)

Good win by the Minnesota Twins there in game 1.  A tough extra inning win on the road could really bother the Tigers, if your home and the game goes into extra’s, you have to get that win.

Feldman and Kazmir might be a pretty good game out there in LA.  Felix Hernandez is fighting a losing battle for the Cy Young, but it’s been a great season regardless.  Good luck to Homer Bailey and Ricky Romero.  Especially good luck to J.A. Happ, we need a motivating start, i’d love it if it was from you.

Duel of the Day – Thursday, September 24, 2009

This is unreal and unbelievable.  I don’t remember feeling this disusted over a baseball game in quite a while, but my disgust is 100% necessary.  There shouldn’t be a Phillies fan in the world who has any confidence in Brad Lidge anymore, if you do, your crazy, it’s as simple as that.  And I am sick of hearing that we have no other options.  Isn’t it possible for a pitcher to come out of nowhere and assume the closer role?  Hey!  It is!  The Phillies claim to have nobody else but in all reality the only guy they have tried other than Lidge is Madson.  There are about 7 or 8 other guys in that pen, we have other options, they just don’t want to explore them.  Who else would let their pitcher get away with 11 blown saves and a 7.31 ERA?  Yea exactly, nobody.

Pitchers that went 7 innings: Jeremy Guthrie (L, 8 hits, 7 runs – 5 earned, 2 walks, 1 K), Cole Hamels (ND, 8 hits, 4 runs, 0 walks, 4 K’s)

The Matchups:

12:35: Cincinnati Reds (Bronson Arroyo, 13-13, 4.04) at Pittsburgh Pirates (Charlie Morton, 4-8, 5.00)

3:35: Texas Rangers (Scott Feldman, 17-5, 3.62) at Oakland Athletics (Brett Anderson, 10-10, 4.21)

7:05: Los Angeles Dodgers (Vincente Padilla, 11-6, 4.52) at Washington Nationals (J.D. Martin, 5-4, 4.21)

7:05: Detroit Tigers (Justin Verlander, 16-9, 3.44) at Cleveland Indians (Carlos Carrasco, 0-2, 9.64)

7:07: Seattle Mariners (Felix Hernandez, 16-5, 2.45) at Toronto Blue Jays (Ricky Romero, 12-9, 4.28)

8:05: Philadelphia Phillies (J.A. Happ, 10-4, 2.77) at Milwaukee Brewers (Jeff Suppan, 7-10, 4.76)

8:10: Boston Red Sox (Clay Buchholz, 6-3, 3.49) at Kansas City Royals (Anthony Lerew – First Start)

8:40: San Diego Padres (Clayton Richard, 8-5, 4.69) at Colorado Rockies (Jason Hammel, 9-8, 4.35)

10:15: Chicago Cubs (Ryan Dempster, 10-8, 3.72) at San Francisco Giants (Brad Penny, 10-9, 5.35)

A rather uneventful day in Major League Baseball.  I just heard Peter Gammons’ new suggestion for a new playoff system.  Apparantly he wants to add another Wild Card to each leauge or each division, I can’t remember which, mainly because I was turned off by the idea when I heard what it was about.  I really like Peter Gammons, but I don’t like the idea of more teams in the playoffs, because it will become like the NHL or NBA eventually.  More teams just doesn’t sound attractive to me.  People complained after the first Wild Card was added, but it’s been successful. However, let’s not push the envelope, i’m sure this is just a bad year for division races and we shouldn’t be hasty about adding more teams.

Duel of the Day – Saturday, September 19, 2009

I was all fired up while watching the Phillies game last night, and here is why.  It was the bottom of the 8th, Phillies up by 4, Tyler Walker pitching, ERA on the season is 1.93.  In the top of the 8th, Ryan Madson was warming up, meaning he would pitch the 8th and Lidge the 9th (The Phillies were only up by 2 at the time).  Walker gets an out, gives up a hit, strikes out Chipper Jones and then gives up a 2 run homer.  Logic figures that the home run was just a bad pitch, keep him in to get the last out and go to Madson in the 9th.  No.  Here comes Manuel, brings in Madson, gets the out after 3 pitches, and he is then pinch-hit for in the top of the 9th.  Luckily the Phillies scored 4 runs and put them out of a save situation and Lidge never had to come in.  Last night made me realize that Manuel has no idea on how to manage a bullpen.  Once he has his faith in a guy, he’ll use him over and over and over again.  Poor Tyler Walker, I know you could have gotten that out (this happened earlier in the season to Scott Eyre too).

Pitchers that went 7 innings: Charlie Morton (W, 6 hits, 1 run, 1 walk, 4 K’s), Homer Bailey (ND, 3 hits, 0 runs, 2 walks, 8 K’s), Mike Pelfrey (L, 8 hits, 5 runs – 4 earned, 0 walks, 4 K’s), Tim Hudson (L, 6 hits, 3 runs, 1 walk, 3 K’s), Ted Lilly, ND, 7.2 innings, 5 hits, 2 runs, 0 walks, 6 K’s), A.J. Burnett (ND, 7 hits, 1 run, 3 walks, 6 K’s)

Pitchers that went 9 innings: Luke Hochevar (W, 3 hits, 0 runs, 1 walk, 5 K’s), Felix Hernandez (W, 8 hits, 2 runs – 1 earned, 1 walk, 3 K’s)

The Duel of Yesterday: A.J. Burnett v. Felix Hernandez

*By the way, 2 of my young gun favorites in Homer Bailey and Luke Hochevar were phenominal yesterday, if only they could do it all the time.

The Matchups:

San Diego Padres (Clayton Richard, 8-5, 4.90) at Pittsburgh Pirates (Ross Ohlendorf, 11-10, 4.03)

Washington Nationals (John Lannan, 9-11, 4.08) at New York Mets (Tim Redding, 2-6, 5.52)

Cleveland Indians (Jeremy Sowers, 6-9, 4.49) at Oakland Athletics (Gio Gonzalez, 5-6, 6.31)

Detroit Tigers (Justin Verlander, 16-8, 3.34) at Minnesota Twins (Carl Pavano, 12-11, 4.91)

Chicago Cubs (Ryan Dempster, 10-8, 3.84) at St. Louis Cardinals (Chris Carpenter, 16-4, 2.45)

San Francisco Giants (Brad Penny, 10-8, 5.04) at Los Angeles Dodgers (Jon Garland, 10-11, 4.19)

Philadelphia Phillies (Pedro Martinez, 5-0, 2.87) at Atlanta Braves (Javier Vazquez, 13-9, 3.01)

Los Angeles Angels (Jered Weaver, 15-6, 3.85) at Texas Rangers (Scott Feldman, 16-5, 3.65)

Boston Red Sox (Jon Lester, 13-7, 3.29) at Baltimore Orioles (David Hernandez, 4-8, 5.40)

Kansas City Royals (Dusty Hughes, 0-0, 3.38) at Chicago White Sox (Jake Peavy, 6-6, 3.97)

Houston Astros (Brian Moehler, 8-10, 5.01) at Milwaukee Brewers (Jeff Suppan, 6-10, 4.87)

Toronto Blue Jays (Ricky Romero, 12-8, 4.22) at Tampa Bay Rays (Matt Garza, 7-10, 3.84)

Florida Marlins (Ricky Nolasco, 11-9, 5.46) at Cincinnati Reds (Bronson Arroyo, 13-12, 4.07)

Colorado Rockies (Jason Hammel, 8-8, 4.38) at Arizona Diamondbacks (Max Scherzer, 9-9, 4.05)

New York Yankees (CC Sabathia, 17-7, 3.42) at Seattle Mariners (Doug Fister, 2-2, 3.53)

Some good pitching on hand today, the return of Jake Peavy is bound to be interesting.  Pedro Martinez looks to keep up what he’s been doing against a tough Javier Vazquez.  Chris Carpenter has been incredible and Scott Feldman just wins.

Duel of the Dat – Monday, September 14, 2009

What pitching from two unexpected sources yesterday.  7.1 innings from Kyle Kendrick and 8 innings from Pedro Martinez.  What did we do to deserve that?  I don’t know and I don’t care, all I know is that I would absolutely love to see a lot more of it.  I’m sorry I taunted you Pedro, thus far, you’ve been a pleasant surprise.  Kyle, please keep it up, I like you, you know that, but the way you pitched last season made me not like you.

Pitchers who went 7 innings: Matt Garza (L, 7.1 innings, 9 hits, 3 runs, 0 walks, 8 K’s), Clay Buchholz (W, 5 hits, 1 run, 3 walks, 5 K’s), CC Sabathia (W, 5 hits, 3 runs, 4 walks, 1 K), Kyle Kendrick (W, 7.1 innings, 7 hits, 2 runs, 1 walk, 3 K’s), Brian Duensing (W, 8 hits, 0 runs, 3 walks, 6 K’s), Mark Buehrle (L, 5 hits, 3 runs – 2 earned, 2 walks, 3 K’s), Brad Penny (W, 5 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks, 2 K’s), Felix Hernandez (W, 4 hits, 0 runs, 1 walk, 5 K’s)

Pitchers who went 8 innings: Paul Maholm (W, 6 hits, 0 runs, 2 walks, 2 K’s), Jon Lester (W, 2 hits, 0 runs, 3 walks, 7 K’s), Pedro Martinez (W, 6 hits, 0 runs, 2 walks, 7 K’s)

Pitchers who went 9 innings: Javier Vazquez (W, 7 hits, 2 runs, 0 walks, 8 K’s), Tommy Hunter (W, 6 hits, 2 runs – 1 earned, 1 walk, 3 K’s)

The Duel of Yesterday: Tim Redding v. Pedro Martinez, but this very well could be the fullest i’ve ever seen it, look at all those pitchers who pitched really well yesterday, what a day.

The Matchups:

Los Angeles Angels (Jered Weaver, 15-5, 3.76) at New York Yankees (Joba Chamberlain, 8-5, 4.45)

Tampa Bay Rays (David Price, 7-7, 4.65) at Baltimore Orioles (David Hernandez, 4-7, 5.05)

Toronto Blue Jays (David Purcey, 0-2, 7.01) at Detroit Tigers (Justin Verlander, 16-8, 3.24)

Houston Astros (Wandy Rodriguez, 13-9, 2.76) at Cincinnati Reds (Bronson Arroyo, 12-12, 4.17)

Milwaukee Brewers (Jeff Suppan, 6-9, 5.05) at Chicago Cubs (Ryan Dempster, 9-8, 4.03)

Oakland Athletics (Brett Tomko, 4-3, 4.47 – 3-1, 3.90) at Texas Rangers (Scott Feldman, 16-4, 3.46)

Cleveland Indians (Jeremy Sowers, 6-9, 4.78) at Minnesota Twins (Carl Pavano, 12-11, 4.92 – 3-3, 3.65)

Florida Marlins (Ricky Nolasco, 11-8, 5.23) at St. Louis Cardinals (Todd Wellemeyer, 7-9, 5.62)

Arizona Diamondbacks (Billy Buckner, 2-6, 7.38) at San Deigo Padres (Kevin Correia, 10-10, 4.30)

Pittsburgh Pirates (Daniel McCutchen, 0-1, 4.85) at Los Angeles Dodgers (Jon Garland, 9-11, 4.23 – 1-0, 3.46)

Colorado Rockies (Jason Hammel, 8-7, 4.31) at San Francisco Giants (Tim Lincecum, 13-5, 2.34)

The Duel:

It looks like Tim Lincecum against Jason Hammel might be the best on the schedule today.  Tim is making his first start since losing to the Phillies (while striking out 11 I might add) on September 3rd.  The Giants will be overjoyed to have him back and they really need great things from him, and the rest of the staff, if they want to make the postseason.  Jason Hammel might have something to say about that tonight.  The Rockies are 4.5 games above San Fran and even just 1 win in this series can thwart the dreams of the Giants.  Hammel has been an incredibly solid arm for the Rockies this season and he hasn’t allowed more than 3 runs in a game since June 30th.  This is a big series and just imagine how exciting it would be with a Giants sweep.

Duel of the Day – Wednesday, September 9, 2008

Pitchers who went 7 innings: Clay Buchholz (W, 3 hits, 0 runs, 1 walk, 5 K’s), Javier Vazquez (W, 3 hits, 0 runs, 4 walks, 9 K’s), Jason Marquis (W, 7.1 innings, 4 hits, 1 run, 3 walks, 7 K’s), Billy Buckner (ND, 5 hits, 1 run, 3 walks, 4 K’s), Felix Hernandez (ND, 3 hits, 2 runs – 1 earned, 4 walks, 3 K’s), Scott Kazmir (ND, 3 hits, 1 run, 2 walks, 4 K’s)

The Duel of Yesterday: Felix Hernandez v. Scott Kazmir

The Matchups:

Texas Rangers (Scott Feldman, 15-4, 3.62) at Cleveland Indians (Fausto Carmona, 3-9, 6.08)

Chicago Cubs (Carlos Zambrano, 7-6, 3.80) at Pittsburgh Pirates (Kevin Hart, 4-5, 4.67 – 1-4, 6.35)

St. Louis Cardinals (Adam Wainwright, 17-7, 2.68) at Milwaukee Brewers (Jeff Suppan, 6-8, 4.97)

San Diego Padres (Wade LeBlanc, 1-1, 6.06) at San Francisco Giants (Barry Zito, 9-11, 3.95)

Tampa Bay Rays (Jeff Niemann, 12-5, 3.67) at New York Yankees (Joba Chamberlain, 8-5, 4.41)

Philadelphia Phillies (Cliff Lee, 12-11, 3.06 – 5-2, 2.81) at Washington Nationals (Garrett Mock, 3-7, 5.63)

Minnesota Twins (Carl Pavano, 11-11, 5.09 – 2-3, 4.14) at Toronto Blue Jays (Roy Halladay, 14-8, 2.98)

Baltimore Orioles (Jason Berken, 4-11, 6.07) at Boston Red Sox (Paul Byrd, 1-1, 7.56)

Florida Marlins (Ricky Nolasco, 10-8, 5.27) at New York Mets (Pat Misch, 1-1, 3.25)

Atlanta Braves (Tommy Hanson, 9-3, 3.07) at Houston Astros (Wandy Rodriguez, 13-9, 2.82)

Detroit Tigers (Justin Verlander, 16-7, 3.29) at Kansas City Royals (Robinson Tejeda, 1-1, 3.61)

Oakland Athletics (Trevor Cahill, 8-12, 4.66) at Chicago White Sox (Freddy Garcia, 1-2, 4.76)

Cincinnati Reds (Bronson Arroyo, 12-12, 4.23) at Colorado Rockies (Jason Hammel, 8-7, 4.41)

Seattle Mariners (Ian Snell, 6-9, 5.21 – 4-1, 4.89) at Los Angeles Angels (Jered Weaver, 14-5, 3.79)

Los Angeles Dodgers (Jon Garland, 9-11, 4.23 – 1-0, 2.57) at Arizona Diamondbacks (Dan Haren, 13-8, 2.78)

The Duel:

I feel like I right about Wandy Rodriguez every time he pitches, oh right, because basically I do.  This guy has been having a great season, and recently he’s been in some great matchups.  He is coming off a very good start against the Phillies where he allowed 7 hits and 0 runs in 7 innings, while striking out 7.  In that game, he also beat Cliff Lee, but he was bad that day.  In 4 starts since allowing 10 earned runs, his ERA is a fantastic 1.61.  On to Tommy Hanson, who now might be in the lead for the Rookie of the Year title, seeing as how J.A. Happ just got scratched yesterday and will now miss his next start as well.  Hanson is 4-1 in his last 6 and hasn’t allowed more than 4 runs or more since July 31st.  Also, his ERA is 2.79 since that day, so Hanson really has been throwing the ball well and it would be nice to see him finish strong (but not that nice, I would like my guy to win the ROY).

Duel of the Day – Friday, September 4, 2009

A great start by Pedro Martinez and 3 straight saves by Brad Lidge, yet the offense was still quiet.  At least they had a reason for it though, it was Tim Lincecum.  That was a nice win for the Phillies, the game and the series.

Pitchers who went 7 innings: Carlos Torres (W, 5 hits, 0 runs, 0 walks, 6 K’s), Ryan Dempster (L, 9 hits, 3 runs – 0 earned, 1 walk, 7 K’s), Pat Misch (W, 4 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks, 3 K’s), Tim Lincecum (L, 4 hits, 2 runs, 1 walk, 11 K’s), Pedro Martinez (W, 5 hits, 1 run, 0 walks, 9 K’s), Jon Garland (W, 5 hits, 2 runs, 1 walk, 6 K’s)

The Duel of Yesterday: Tim Lincecum v. Pedro Martinez

The Matchups:

Minnesota Twins (Carl Pavano, 11-10, 5.11 – 2-2, 4.06) at Cleveland Indians (Jeremy Sowers, 5-9, 4.88)

Florida Marlins (Sean West, 6-5, 4.22) at Washington Nationals (Garrett Mock, 3-6, 5.01)

Texas Rangers (Scott Feldman, 14-4, 3.72) at Baltimore Orioles (Chris Tillman, 1-2, 4.24)

St. Louis Cardinals (Adam Wainwright, 16-7, 2.47) at Pittsburgh Pirates (Kevin Hart, 4-4, 4.34 – 1-3, 6.04)

New York Yankees (Joba Chamberlain, 8-4, 4.38) at Toronto Blue Jays (Roy Halladay, 13-8, 3.13)

Chicago Cubs (Carlos Zambrano, 7-6, 3.91) at New York Mets (Bobby Parnell, 3-7, 5.81)

Cincinnati Reds (Bronson Arroyo, 11-12, 4.35) at Atlanta Braves (Derek Lowe, 13-8, 4.38)

Detroit Tigers (Justin Verlander, 15-7, 3.38) at Tampa Bay Rays (Jeff Niemann, 12-5, 3.80)

Philadelphia Phillies (Cliff Lee, 12-10, 2.83 – 5-1, 1.80) at Houston Astros (Wandy Rodriguez, 12-9, 2.93)

San Francisco Giants (Barry Zito, 9-11, 3.94) at Milwaukee Brewers (Jeff Suppan, 6-8, 5.20)

Los Angeles Angels (Jered Weaver, 13-5, 3.89) at Kansas City Royals (Gil Meche, 6-10, 5.09)

Boston Red Sox (Paul Byrd, 1-0, 0.00) at Chicago White Sox (Freddy Garcia, 0-2, 5.94)

Arizona Diamondbacks (Dan Haren, 13-8, 2.78) at Colorado Rockies (Jason Hammel, 8-7, 4.40)

Seattle Mariners (Ryan-Rowland Smith, 2-2, 3.95) at Oakland Athletics (Clayton Mortensen, 0-1, 12.86)

San Diego Padres (Wade LeBlanc, 0-1, 9.58) at Los Angeles Dodgers (Clayton Kershaw, 8-7, 2.94)

The Rundown:

Cliff Lee showed us Phillies fans his human side in his last outing, we’d rather not ever see it again.  He allowed 6 runs on 10 hits in just 5 innings of work, his shortest outing since June 30th.  But I have faith that he’ll be able to bounce back from this game with no problem, should be a pretty tough matchup though facing off against Wandy Rodriguez.  Rodriguez, while not being quite as dominant as Lee, has pretty much the same overall ERA for the season, which was surprising to me.  Since the start of July, he has allowed over 1 run in a game just twice, its just a shame that one of those times it was 10 runs.  He does have 2 straight losses however, but I don’t think that really bothers him, he didn’t pitch all that bad in either game.

The Notables: Scott Feldman is 5-0 in his last 6 starts, and has 14 wins on the season.  Adam Wainwright has been downright greatness for the past few months and I really think I would give the Cy Young to him at this point.  Roy Halladay is in a slump, not only with his pitching, but I think his mindset too, I think he’s done with Toronto.  Derek Lowe has had many good starts lately, but with a bad one in between.  Justin Verlander and Jeff Niemann face off once again, and it could be a duel.  Nobody seems to be giving him much credit, but Barry Zito has been incredibly strong recently, he just went 8.1 innings against the Rockies.  Dan Haren has been better, but still not as good as he was early in the season, still, he’s a good one to watch.

Duel of the Day – Saturday, August 29, 2009

As much as I complained about Pedro Martinez kicking Jamie Moyer out of the rotation, i’d say the two of them make a pretty good team.  Pedro goes a few innings, then the rain comes, Moyer comes on, and ends up pitching more innings that Pedro did, and he’s lights out.  Jamie, I love when you pitch with anger and bitterness.

Pitchers who went 7 innings: Pat Misch (ND, 6 hits, 1 run, 2 walks, 2 K’s), Ted Lilly (ND, 6 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks, 2 K’s), CC Sabathia (ND, 8 hits, 2 runs, 1 walk, 10 K’s), Tommy Hunter (L, 7 hits, 3 runs, 0 walks, 3 K’s), Brian Duensing (W, 3 hits, 1 run, 1 walk, 8 K’s), Felix Hernandez (W, 5 hits, 3 runs, 1 walk, 6 K’s), Ubaldo Jimenez (L, 7 hits, 2 runs, 3 walks, 4 K’s)

Pitchers who went 8 innings: Homer Bailey (W, 7 hits, 0 runs, 1 walk, 7 K’s), John Lannan (ND, 4 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks, 2 K’s), Tim Lincecum (W, 4 hits, 0 runs, 3 walks, 8 K’s)

The Duel of Yesterday: Ubaldo Jimenez v. Tim Lincecum

The matchups:

Chicago White Sox (Jose Contreras, 5-12, 5.09) at New York Yankees (Sergio Mitre, 2-1, 6.82)

Tampa Bay Rays (David Price, 6-6, 4.93) at Detroit Tigers (Nate Robertson, 1-0, 7.71)

Los Angeles Dodgers (Charlie Haeger, 1-1, 1.93) at Cincinnati Reds (Matt Maloney, 0-2, 6.11)

New York Mets (Bobby Parnell, 3-6, 5.08) at Chicago Cubs (Ryan Dempster, 7-7, 4.07)

San Diego Padres (Wade LeBlanc, 0-1, 14.54) at Florida Marlins (Ricky Nolasco, 9-8, 5.31)

Cleveland Indians (Jeremy Sowers, 5-9, 4.93) at Baltimore Orioles (Chris Tillman, 1-2, 4.58)

Atlanta Braves (Derek Lowe, 12-8, 4.48) at Philadelphia Phillies (Cliff Lee, 12-9, 2.63 – 5-0, 0.68)

Pittsburgh Pirates (Kevin Hart, 4-3, 4.14 – 1-2, 6.04) at Milwaukee Brewers (Yovani Gallardo, 12-10, 3.51)

Texas Rangers (Scott Feldman, 13-4, 3.87) at Minnesota Twins (Carl Pavano, 11-9, 5.20 – 2-1, 4.32)

Toronto Blue Jays (Ricky Romero, 11-5, 3.91) at Boston Red Sox (Clay Buchholz, 2-3, 5.02)

Washington Nationals (Craig Stammen, 4-6, 5.08) at St. Louis Cardinals (Mitchell Boggs, 1-2, 4.58)

Houston Astros (Bud Norris, 3-2, 5.86) at Arizona Diamondbacks (Jon Garland, 7-11, 4.48)

Oakland Athletics (Vin Mazzaro, 4-9, 5.32) at Los Angeles Angels (Jered Weaver, 13-5, 4.03)

Colorado Rockies (Jason Marquis, 14-8, 3.47) at San Francisco Giants (Barry Zito, 8-11, 4.09)

Kansas City Royals (Gil Meche, 6-9, 4.75) at Seattle Mariners (Ian Snell, 4-9, 5.37 – 2-1, 5.40)

The rundown:

Tough decision here on which was going to be my projected duel.  One can’t argue with the numbers Cliff Lee is putting up, but what about Derek Lowe?  Lowe, the sinker ball specialist is having a so-so season, ERA higher than he’d like and he’s given up a bunch of hits.  However, he has been good against the Phillies in 2 starts this season, he is 1-0 with a 1.29 ERA, I still remember when he destroyed us on Opening Day.  Cliff Lee is 8-0 in his last 8 games with an 0.97 ERA.  He has just been absolutely incredible and he really has done amazing things since coming to the Phillies, lets hope he can keep it up.

The notables: Yovani Gallardo, who is having a very good season, has been pitching well as of late.  Scott Feldman, who has been very underrated for the Rangers pitching staff this season, just struck out 11 in his last start.  Jason Marquis, who has been nothing short of great for Colorado.

Duel of the Day – Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Pitchers who went 7 innings: Brian Bannister (ND, 10 hits, 7 runs – 6 earned, 3 walks, 6 K’s), Charlie Haeger (L, 5 hits, 3 runs, 0 walks, 2 K’s)

Pitchers who went 8 innings: A.J. Burnett (L, 6 hits, 3 runs, 2 walks, 5 K’s), Chris Carpenter (W, 5 hits, 2 runs, 1 walk, 8 K’s)

The Duel of Yesterday: Ted Lilly v. Kevin Correia

The matchups:

Los Angeles Angels (Trevor Bell, 0-0, 6.75) at Cleveland Indians (Fausto Carmona, 2-7, 6.37)

Arizona Diamondbacks (Jon Garland, 6-10, 4.28) at Philadelphia Phillies (Pedro Martinez, 1-0, 5.40)

Seattle Mariners (Felix Hernandez, 12-4, 2.72) at Detroit Tigers (Rick Porcello, 10-7, 4.34)

Colorado Rockies (Ubaldo Jimenez, 10-9, 3.47) at Washington Nationals (Craig Stammen, 3-6, 5.24)

Milwaukee Brewers (Manny Parra, 8-8, 6.44) at Pittsburgh Pirates (Ross Ohlendorf, 10-8, 4.30)

Boston Red Sox (Josh Beckett, 14-4, 3.10) at Toronto Blue Jays (Ricky Romero, 10-5, 3.70)

Baltimore Orioles (Jason Berken, 2-10, 6.63) at Tampa Bay Rays (David Price, 5-5, 5.13)

Atlanta Braves (Derek Lowe, 12-7, 4.08) at New York Mets (Oliver Perez, 2-3, 5.97)

San Francisco Giants (Tim Lincecum, 12-3, 2.19) at Cincinnati Reds (Homer Bailey, 2-4, 7.48)

Minnesota Twins (Carl Pavano, 10-9, 5.16) at Texas Rangers (Scott Feldman, 12-4, 3.90)

Florida Marlins (Ricky Nolasco, 8-8, 5.44) at Houston Astros (Bud Norris, 3-0, 3.00)

Kansas City Royals (Gil Meche, 5-9, 4.62) at Chicago White Sox (Freddy Garcia – First Start)

New York Yankees (CC Sabathia, 13-7, 3.64) at Oakland Athletics (Vin Mazzaro, 4-8, 5.44)

Chicago Cubs (Ryan Dempster, 6-6, 4.23) at San Diego Padres (Cesar Carillo, 0-1, 30.86)

St. Louis Cardinals (Mitchell Boggs, 1-1, 3.78) at Los Angeles Dodgers (Chad Billingsley, 11-6, 3.73)

The rundown:

Josh Beckett against Ricky Romero looks good to me.  I know Romero has been slumping, but with 3 really good pitches (fastball, changeup, slider) I don’t believe he can slump very long.  Against Boston this season he is 0-2 with a 10.00 ERA, hopefully he’ll fare a little better this time around.  Josh Beckett is having another incredible season, 14 wins, 3.10 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, the man is a machine.  In his last 10 starts, he has only one outing shorter than 7 innings (6.2 innings) and a 7-1 record.  Surprisingly enough, this will be Beckett’s first start against Toronto this season, it shouldn’t disappoint either.

The notables:

Notable pitchers to watch: Felix Hernandez who struck out 10 and allowed 0 runs in 7 innings, Ubaldo Jimenez who has won 3 in a row and went 8 innings in two of those games, Derek Lowe who has not lost since July 5th, Tim Lincecum who is just absolutely incredible, Scott Feldman who just continues to win, CC Sabathia who has been in true form his last two starts, and Chad Billingsley makes his return to the hill tonight.

Duel of the Day – Friday, August 7, 2009

Great game yesterday for the Phillies, Cliff Lee didn’t bring his best, but, being the ace that he is, he didn’t need his best.  Brad Lidge was the best i’ve seen him all year as well.

Pitchers who went 7 innings: Cliff Lee (W, 6 hits, 1 run, 1 walk, 9 K’s), Tommy Hunter (W, 3 hits, 3 runs – 2 earned, 2 walks, 4 K’s), Jason Vargas (L, 9 hits, 8 runs – 7 earned, 3 walks, 0 K’s), Randy Wolf (ND, 9 hits, 4 runs, 3 walks, 4 K’s)

The Duel of Yesterday: Nick Blackburn v. Fausto Carmona

The matchups:

Boston Red Sox (Josh Beckett, 13-4, 3.27) at New York Yankees (A.J. Burnett, 10-5, 3.89)

Arizona Diamondbacks (Jon Garland, 6-10, 4.26) at Washington Nationals (Collin Balester, 1-1, 3.68)

Minnesota Twins (Anthony Swarzak, 3-4, 4.25) at Detroit Tigers (Armando Galarraga, 5-10, 5.22)

St. Louis Cardinals (Chris Carpenter, 10-3, 2.10) at Pittsburgh Pirates (Paul Maholm, 6-6, 4.75)

Baltimore Orioles (Jason Berken, 1-9, 6.93) at Toronto Blue Jays (Ricky Romero, 10-4, 3.53)

Florida Marlins (Ricky Nolasco, 7-7, 5.00) at Philadelphia Phillies (Joe Blanton, 7-5, 4.02)

Milwaukee Brewers (Carlos Villanueva, 2-8, 5.98) at Houston Astros (Bud Norris, 1-0, 0.90)

Oakland Athletics (Vin Mazzaro, 2-8, 5.73) at Kansas City Royals (Brian Bannister, 7-7, 3.59)

Cleveland Indians (Jeremy Sowers, 3-7, 4.97) at Chicago White Sox (Mark Buehrle, 11-5, 3.79)

Chicago Cubs (Carlos Zambrano, 7-4, 3.35) at Colorado Rockies (Ubaldo Jimenez, 8-9, 3.76)

Texas Rangers (Scott Feldman, 10-4, 3.91) at Los Angeles Angels (Joe Saunders, 9-6, 5.07)

New York Mets (Oliver Perez, 2-3, 7.03) at San Diego Padres (Kevin Correia, 7-9, 4.73)

Tampa Bay Rays (Jeff Niemann, 10-5, 3.62) at Seattle Mariners (Felix Hernandez, 12-4, 2.78)

Atlanta Braves (Jair Jurrjens, 9-8, 2.85) at Los Angeles Dodgers (Chad Billingsley, 11-6, 3.82)

Cincinnati Reds (Homer Bailey, 2-3, 7.06) at San Francisco Giants (Tim Lincecum, 12-3, 2.18)

The rundown:

    It’s Red Sox/Yankees, it’s former teammates, it’s got playoff implications, and it could be a good pitchers duel.  Josh Beckett is having another season of domination (has anyone else noticed that he goes like every other year?), in his last 8 starts he is 6-1, with 2 complete game shutouts.  A.J. Burnett is having a bit of a different season, before he got slammed in his last start, he was 7-1 dating back to the last time he faced Boston.  I think the excitement of the game will turn in some emotion-on-your-sleeve performances.

    In a battle of aces, Carlos Zambrano will take on Ubaldo Jimenez.  In his last start, Zambrano left with a stiff back after only 3 innings, his season hasn’t been much to write home about, but his ERA is still very good at 3.35, but he’s hovering around only 6 innings per start.  Ubaldo Jimenez would like a better record, but he’s been able to keep that ERA under 4.00, he’s coming off a good start in Cincinnati and he’ll look to have that carry over.

    Jeff Niemann has been the surprise of the season for the Rays, he has been incredible.  Originally he was slated to be no better that the 5th starter, but he has become a staple in that rotation.  3 of his last 4 starts have been 8 innings or more, one being a complete game shutout, I look for him to do really good against the Mariners.  Speaking of the Mariners, they are throwing Felix Hernandez to the hill, and what can you say?  His ERA was on a nice little roll, getting to 2.45, and then he got rocked for 7 runs in Toronto, but the guy is still having a great season.

The notables:

Chris Carpenter will face the Pirates, Ricky Romero takes on the Orioles, Brian Bannister has the A’s to contend with, Mr. Perfect 2009 Mark Buehrle faces division rival Cleveland, Scott Feldman is have a good campaign with the Rangers and he’s facing the Angels, Jair Jurrjens and Chad Billingsley are facing off again, it could be good, Tim Lincecum rounds out the day against the Cincinnati Reds

The winner:

I think you have to take Beckett/Burnett just because it’s Red Sox/Yankees, but you could always catch the Niemann/Hernandez game afterwards