Baseball In The Daytime: 7-26-07

Once again, Thursday brings a bevy of action on major league diamonds. Most of these games suck dog balls, but they beat watching competitive eating.

Today's leadoff game is the Pirates and the Mets, at 10:10 Mountain on XM 189 and DTV 734. New York, after floundering for much of July, is finally hitting its stride a little and is looking for a sweep of Pittsburgh. The Mets give the ball to Oliver Perez, while the Pirates hopes rest with Paul Maholm.

At 10:35, Camden Yards is the site of a D'Rays-Orioles episode on XM 182 and DTV 735. Expect offensive fireworks as Edwin Jackson and Steve Trachsel pitch. Baltimore is actually playing pretty well, having won seven of their last ten, but most of that has been at the expense of lousy Tampa.

Same time, different channel (XM 183, no TV) for the Brewers and Reds from Great American. It's the rubber game of a three-game set between the NL Central clubs, and Dave Bush and Bobby Livingston are your starters. The Brewers, whose division lead has slipped to a mere two over the still-hot Cubs, made a pretty crappy trade for Scott Linebrink last night. Not that the Padres fleeced GM Doug Melvin or anything, I just don't see the trade really helping either team much. San Diego needed offense much more than prospect pitchers, while Milwaukee could really use a starter with Sheets on the DL and Suppan struggling.

And the games just keep getting worse, as the Nationals and Phillies are forced to play another game at 11:05. John Lannan makes his big-league debut for the Nats, and we wish him luck against that meaty Philly lineup. Adam Eaton should have slightly better luck for the home team on XM 185 and DTV 736, and if he wins the Phils garner a sweep.

And wrapping up the Daytime slate is a game from the South Side of Chicago, Tigers-White Sox at 12:05 on XM 180 and DTV 737. Justin Verlander takes his sterling 11-3 record and 3.40 ERA to the mound opposite John Danks, bro. There's a feature on the dizzying ESPN.com preview of this game called Accuscore, which claims that Detroit has a 64 per cent chance of winning this game. Call your bookies, and Cheers!