Baseball in the Daytime: 6-19-08

Like, "peace out," and "word" and stuff, fair people. It's time to scan the slotted sunshiney baseball contests for this fine Thursday. Today's slate is a wee bit full, so we'll skip the obnoxious recap of last night's games, and get right to the action, after touching on a few points of interest. Our very own Old No. 7 posed an interesting debate last week, one in which he examined and compared the baseball players known as Pete Rose and Barry Bonds. The cats over at Bugs and Cranks have finished a two-part bit doing something similar, only it involves Bonds and the Babe. Part one is here, part two here.

Some time ago, that same Seven guy began an examination of WalkOff Walk's afternoon baseball preview that seemed eerily similar to our own BitD. They seem to post theirs more periodically, and they're back at it today, with a much less incriminating name for the affair. The broads over at Babes Love Baseball let us know that they think Sir Sidney Ponson is a crappy excuse for a pitcher. Turns out the Bronx Bombers slightly disagree, having signed his knightliness, and asssigned him to AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. But enough about that. Onto the games!

L.A. Dodgers @ Cincinnati, 11:35: These two clubs remain the only non-interleaguers this fine afternoon, and the NL L.A.ers send the '08 statless lefty Eric Stults to the mound. His opponent is the strikeout master Aaron Harang, who enters the contest at a rough 3-9. His ERA remains tolerable at 4.10, and he's notched 89 Ks thus far.

Kansas City @ St. Louis, 1:15: After getting back-to-back jacks in the eighth last night, the Royals look to sweep their Missouri rivals, sending the 5-4 Zack Greinke to battle right-hander Brad Thompson, who's logged one win and won loss this year.

San Diego @ N.Y. Yankees, 12:05: The Yankees will try to gain some AL East ground on the Tampa Bay Rays by sending Joba Chamberlain to the hill, and threatening to allow him to toss upwards of 100 pitches. "The Hut" comes in at 1-2, and his Padre counterpart is right-hander Josh Banks, he of the 2-0 mark, and the 1.29 earned-run average.

Washington @ Minnesota, 12:10: Up in the twin cities, lefty Glen Perkins challenges righty Shawn Hill to a dual. Perkins sits at 2-2, while Hill isn't far off that same mark at 1-3.

Atlanta @ Texas, 1:05: Deep in the heart of the Lone Star State, it's a battle of two 36-37 ball clubs, as the visiting Braves throw the right-handed, 1-0 Charlie Morton into the mix. His opponent: another righty named Scott Feldman, who's won one and lost three.

Pittsburgh @ Chicago, 1:05: On the South Side, the American League Chicago club sends the 7-3 Gavin Floyd out for duty. In addition to his impressive record, he's holding a 3.30 ERA going into today. The Pirates give lefty Phil Dumatrait the nod, and he'll tote his 3-3 record, 3.84 ERA to the hill.

Toronto @ Milwaukee, 1:05: In the home of fine beverages such as Hamm's and Pabst Blue Ribbon, the Brew Crew takes on some Canadians. Milwaukee employs righty Dave Bush, who at 2-7/5.73, has seen some better season starts. Pitching from the tops of the innings will be the 6-6 A.J. Burnett who takes the field with a 4.90 ERA, and looks to get his Jays squad off of the rough path they've headed down of late.

Oakland @ Arizona, 2:40: Out west, the A's and the D'bags will wrap up their series with the visiting squad sending Greg Smith to the mound, and the home squad looks to counter that effort with Doug Davis.

There you have it. Eight daytime contests -- DirecTV schedule here, XM here -- to take in, as opposed to the three evening affairs today in the bigs. If that's not enough baseball to tide you over til tomorrow, check out some College World Series action at 6 p.m. this evening. The Tar Heels of North Carolina battle the Tigers of LSU in action full of "Ping!"