What’s on tap: Previewing Friday Night’s Action

It’s not until tomorrow night, but I really can’t believe baseball hasn’t stepped in and stopped Clayton Kershaw from pitching against the Braves tomorrow. Kids watch this game. They don’t need to see carnage like that, Rob Manfred. Do something, will ya?

As for tonight, R.A. Dickey vs. David Price is a great matchup for people who haven’t watched baseball in, like, four years and still want to know the names of the pitchers. Same with Johnny Cueto and Adam Wainwright in St. Louis. Yu Darvish gets his second start of the year and will try to go beyond five innings this time out, even if the last outing was a good five innings.

On the less famous end of the spectrum we have the Rockies, who just got clobbered by the Reds of all teams, trotting out Chris Rusin to face the Padres, whose owner may decide to simply disband them and open up a taco stand given how things have been going for them lately. Drew Pomeranz: the fate of your franchise depends on you. No pressure.

Have a nice weekend, y’all.

Los Angeles Angels (Jered Weaver) @ Pittsburgh Pirates (Francisco Liriano), 7:05 PM EDT, PNC Park

Milwaukee Brewers (Jimmy Nelson) @ Philadelphia Phillies (Vince Velazquez), 7:05 PM EDT, Citizens Bank Park

New York Yankees (Nate Eovaldi) @ Baltimore Orioles (Chris Tillman), 7:05 PM EDT, Oriole Park at Camden Yards

Chicago White Sox (Carlos Rodon) @ Detroit Tigers (Jordan Zimmermann), 7:10 PM EDT, Comerica Park

Kansas City Royals (Edinson Volquez) @ Cleveland Indians (Danny Salazar), 7:10 PM EDT, Progressive Field

New York Mets (Noah Syndergaard) @ Miami Marlins (Tom Koehler), 7:10 PM EDT, Marlins Park

Toronto Blue Jays (R.A. Dickey) @ Boston Red Sox (David Price), 7:10 PM EDT, Fenway Park

Washington Nationals (Gio Gonzalez) @ Cincinnati Reds (Brandon Finnegan), 7:10 PM EDT, Great American Ball Park

Seattle Mariners (Taijuan Walker) @ Texas Rangers (Yu Darvish), 8:05 PM EDT, Globe Life Park in Arlington

Oakland Athletics (Jesse Hahn) @ Houston Astros (Doug Fister), 8:10 PM EDT, Minute Maid Park

Tampa Bay Rays (Jake Odorizzi) @ Minnesota Twins (Ricky Nolasco), 8:10 PM EDT, Target Field

San Francisco Giants (Johnny Cueto) @ St. Louis Cardinals (Adam Wainwright), 8:15 PM EDT, Busch Stadium

Atlanta Braves (Julio Teheran) @ Los Angeles Dodgers (Kenta Maeda), 10:10 PM EDT, Dodger Stadium

Colorado Rockies (Chris Rusin) @ San Diego Padres (Drew Pomeranz), 10:40 PM EDT, Petco Park

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Braves manager Brian Snitker is hoping recently-signed starter Dallas Keuchel will make his season debut on Friday when the Braves open a 10-game road trip with a three-game set against the Nationals, MLB.com’s Mark Bowman reports. For now, the Braves have not officially named a starter for Friday.

After spending seven months as a free agent, Keuchel finally inked a one-year, $13 million contract with the Braves on June 6. He tossed seven shutout innings with nine strikeouts in his first start with Single-A Rome, then gave up three runs on 11 hits across seven innings for Double-A Mississippi on Saturday.

Last year, his final season with the Astros, Keuchel went 12-11 with a 3.74 ERA and a 153/58 K/BB ratio in 204 2/3 innings. The 31-year-old supposedly worried prospective teams due to his declining strikeout rate.

Keuchel is hoping to continue the Braves’ momentum, as the club has won 9 of its last 10 games and is 12-3 overall in June thus far, building up a 2.5-game lead over the Phillies in the NL East.

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