Baseball In The Daytime: 4-24-08

Following a day of nothingness (Walkoff Walk notes that yesterday was the only Wednesday of the entire season without a matinee game) Baseball In The Daytime is back with great vengeance and furious anger. Old No. 7 would like to point out that following yesterday's rainout in KC, our scheduled six-pack of contests has been augmented by one. It goes to seven.

On tap are lots of Midwestern scrimmages, including a leadoff game pitched by the Dirk Diggler of baseball, Johnny Cueto. The rubber game of a heavyweight AL series takes over Fenway, the Cubs go for win No. 10,001 at Coors, and at Kauffman Stadium the Royals attempt to right the ship...

Houston @ Cincinnati, 10:35 Mountain Cueto has been heralded in this space as a future pitching Superman. If he has a Kryptonite, it is the gopher ball--not a good sign with home games at homer-happy Great American. He's yielded five long flies in four starts this season, but we still stand in awe of his 29/3 K/BB ratio. Playing the role of Lex Luthor today is Astro Jack Cassel.

Philadelphia @ Milwaukee, 11:05 Old guys rule at Miller Park today, as Jamie Moyer and Jeff Suppan start and seniors receive reduced-price admission and large-print scorecards. The ushers will also shell and pre-chew your peanuts for you if you ask nice.

Texas @ Detroit, 11:35 The Tigers swapped their corner infielders, which should improve their defense over the long haul. The short term effect was that they absolutely drilled the Rangers last night. Corey Scott Feldman draws the unenviable assignment of pitching to these Tigers today, while Jeremy Bonderman attempts to miss Ranger bats.

Los Anaheim @ Boston, 11:35 Some sort of superninja flu bug has devastated the Red Sox clubhouse this week. Jason Varitek has been sick the longest, but Josh Beckett came down with symptoms and missed his Tuesday start. Last night Daisuke Matsuzaka succumbed, forcing Jon Lester to start on three days' rest and lose to the Halos.

Today the Sox send out their third straight jury-rigged starter against the class of the AL West. Am I making excuses for a potential series loss? Absolutely not--the Red Sox staff and farm system are deep, and any team has to deal with injuries and illness. Heck, the Angels themselves are missing John Lackey and Kelvim Escobar. Today Joe Saunders risks his perfect 2008 record against callup Justin Masterson, making his big-league debut.

Chicago Cubs @ Colorado, 1:05 It's a shame this is a midweek series, because not much is better than when the Cubs come to Denver for a Friday-Saturday-Sunday engagement. The collective BAC in Lower Downtown reaches the same levels of Manny Corpas' ERA, and the red tank tops come out in full force. Aaron Cook tries to slow down the red-hot Cubbies, who this day are represented by Jason Marquis.

Minnesota @ Oakland, 1:35 These two AL clubs, written off by most experts (and me!) after they traded away their premium pitching talent, are hanging in their respective division races nicely thus far. Francisco Liriano goes for the Twins today while rookie Greg Smith is the A's starter.

Cleveland @ Kansas City, first game 4:10 The Royals don't score runs, which is a problem. They really don't score when Brett Tomko pitches--he's been granted a measly 1.8 runs a start this year. Maybe he's a dick, maybe it's just a coincidence. Today they'll have to deal with the heavy sinker of Fausto Carmona to try and pick Tomko up.

That's your seven, boys, now take this knowledge and Play Ball!