– Tim Lincecum dominated Albert Pujols and the rest of the Cardinals
with a two-hit shutout on Monday. Now St. Louis will try to even up the
series with Chris Carpenter on the mound. Carpenter has lost two of his
last three starts with the Cardinals’ offense struggling, but he still
hasn’t allowed more than three runs in a start this season. He’s 5-2
with a 1.78 ERA. 302-game winner Randy Johnson will get the ball for
the Giants. The Cardinals are one of three teams against which he has a
losing record over the course of at least a dozen starts. The Yankees
and Mets are the other two. Albert Pujols is 9-for-21 with three homers
and three doubles off him, giving him a .429/.478/1.000 line.
– John Smoltz will look to bounce back from a rough Boston debut
when he faces the Orioles in Baltimore. Smoltz showed pretty good stuff
last week, but he gave up five runs over five innings in a loss to the
Nationals. The Orioles will counter with Rich Hill as they try to avoid
what would be a ninth straight loss to the Red Sox at Camden Yards.
Hill is 3-2 with a 6.03 ERA in eight starts.
– While the Red Sox have been remarkably solid, they’re not opening
up any wider of a lead in the AL East. The Yankees will go for their
sixth straight win tonight at home against the Mariners. It will be a
matchup of relievers-turned-starters Brandon Morrow and Joba
Chamberlain. Also, the Rays will go for their seventh straight victory
versus the team the recently overtook for third place in the East, the
Blue Jays. The AL East currently boasts the teams with the first,
second, fifth and seventh best records in the AL.
Game of the Night
Colorado vs. L.A. Dodgers – The two teams played what was probably
Monday’s game of the night, with the Dodgers winning on an Andre Ethier
walkoff homer on the 13th. Tonight’s game will feature a pair of
starters trying to become the NL’s first to 10 victories (unless Johan
Santana, in a game being played two hours earlier, beats them to it).
Jason Marquis is 9-5 with a 4.22 ERA. He beat the Dodgers in his
previous start against the team this year, throwing 7 1/3 innings of
three-run ball back on April 26. Chad Billingsley is 9-3 with a 3.10
ERA. He’s also 1-0 against his opponent tonight, as he beat Aaron Cook
by allowing three runs in six innings on April 18.
