Baseball In The Daytime: 5-12-08

It's Monday, and that means it's trash day in my neighborhood. We have a bit of a bear problem where I live, so it's advisable to keep your rubbish in the garage until you leave for work on Monday morning. The folks across the street failed to heed this wisdom, and therefore my street was coated with refuse and smelled like Pittsburgh.

Major League Baseball also has a little bit of Pittsburgh-scented cleanup today, as a slew of rainouts yesterday have left us with a little Baseball In The Daytime. We've got Jays battling Injuns in the front end of a double dip in Cleveland, as well as a rare all-BITD doubleheader from The Burgh. By the way, how ironic is it that Mother Nature disrupted so many games on Mother's Day?

Atlanta @ Pittsburgh Game 1, 10:35 Mountain Jair Jurrjens is one of the breakout players in this young season. The native of Curacao (I don't know where to find that funny little tail on the second "C" of that word) is humming along at 4-2 with a 2.84 ERA thus far this year, nicely rounding out a Braves rotation that's minus John Smoltz and Mike Hampton. Jurrjens faces Zach Duke in this opener at PNC Park.

Atlanta @ Pittsburgh Game 2, 2:05 Stick around, baseball fans, because we're not finished with exciting Braves-Pirates action! I wouldn't exactly call a Pirates game "action," although it is slightly more titillating than watching the Food Network. Unless Bobby Flay is on. Tim Hudson challenges some kid named John Van Benschoten to a throwdown here, and they'll try not to serve up too many taters.

Toronto @ Cleveland, 2:05 Our hastily composed slate of Rust Belt baseball concludes with a doubleheader from Progressive Field in Cleveland. The first game of the day features a couple of nasty pitchers who occasionally face control issues. Fausto Carmona hurls for the home team, having walked 31 men in less than 40 innings pitched this season. A.J. Burnett, baseball's ultimate tease, once pitched a no-hitter while issuing nine bases on balls. That strikes me as an exceedingly difficult thing to do. Keep it near the plate, fellas, and Play Ball!