Baseball in the Daytime: 8-14-08

We've got half a dozen games to catch this thrilling Thursday full of lights-free baseball, so let's not waste any time. Okay, we'll waste a little. If the season ended today, here'd be your playoff contenders in the National League: The Cubs would be the only shoe-in. That is, we'd have to have one-game playoffs between the Phillies and the Mets to see who takes the East, and Arizona and L.A. would have to do the same out west. My guess would be that the loser of the NY/Philly showdown would nab the wildcard, but I'm back to sucking at math, so I could be wrong. Over in the American League, the other Chicago club would scrape by for the Central title, while Tampa Bay gets the nod in the East, and the Angels have obviously dominated the West for most of the year. Your AL wildcard would unfortunately be that stinking rich team from Beantown. Alright, that was a thrilling exercise. Onward to the games!

Toronto @ Detroit, 12:05 Central: It's cats and birds, birds and cats for BitD's first contest on this fine August day. A battle of right-handers consisting of Jesse Litsch for the visitors and Armando Galaragga for the home team gets underway momentarily, and each of these pitchers seeks to continue improving their fine young careers. Litsch, in his second season, looks to increase the left column of his 8-7 record, and narrow the gap between his Jays and the Yankees, while Galaragga, already having notched 10 wins in this his rookie season, hopes to bring his Tigers closer to .500 ball for the year. Listen in at XM 179, or catch it on the tube: 722 Jays, or 723 for the Tigers feed on DirecTV.

Kansas City @ Chicago, 1:05: Two more AL Central clubs square off this afternoon, and the matchup is Kyle Davies (5-3) versus Lance Broadway. In perhaps the tell-tale symbol of how the Royals typically fare against the White Sox, this will be the second start of Broadway's career (his first of the season); his first was last year against these same Royals, an effort that yielded the youngster six shutout innings and his first and only win. Having struggled this past week against both Stockinged ball teams, KC again finds itself in the AL Central cellar, while the White Sox still hold a half-game first place lead over the Twins. One eighty's your XM number, while DirecTV has it South Side style on 724.

San Francisco @ Houston, 1:05: Kevin Correia takes on Brian Moehler in this NL tilt. The Giants starter has struggled this season gaining only two wins to his six losses, while the 'Stros hurler sits at 8-4. Both clubs find themselves deeper in the middle of their respective division standing than they'd like, but Houston's the winner of seven straight, forever focused on the Cardinals in front of them. This snoozer can be watched (I suppose) on DirecTV 726, or heard on XM 186.

Arizona @ Colorado, 2:05: Now this game's the one to watch. Dan Haren brings his 12-6, 3.00 E.R.A. to the Coors Field mound, where his foe will be the 5-3 Glendon Rusch. The home team took the win last night, in a slugging festival, but the visitors need it badly as they sit tied atop the NL West with ManBerto's Dodgers. It's 1-8-9 time on XM; 727 (D'bags) and 743 (Rockies) over on the DirecTVs.

Milwaukee @ San Diego, 2:35: This, another pitcher's match, gets going out in the Whale's Vagina this afternoon, and features Ben Sheets and Jake Peavy. Sheets' 11-5 record trumps Peavy's 8-8, but both tossers have kept their E.R.A.s under three thus far. San Diego continues to play really bad baseball while the Brew Crew only has three and-a-half games separating them and the NL Central-leading Cubs. XM broadcasts it on 187, while DirecTV does the same on channel 729.

Tampa Bay @ Oakland, 2:35: Another battle of righties closes the BitD slate today out in the Bay area, when James Shields represents the visiting team, Sean Gallagher the home. The Rays will need to continue their winning ways (7-3 in their last 10) if they want to keep the Red Sox off their heels, and that task will be a bit more difficult now with Carl Crawford headed to the DL. Oakland, however, sits 20 games back of those stifling Angels from Los Anaheim, and so they're just really collecting their checks. Speaking of the A's, I caught InFocus last night, and it featured the late 80s A's, and how they were constructed. The main point of the piece was how their club featuring the Bash Brothers and Dennis Eckersley, et al, is now historically overlooked, with which I concurred. It never really occurred to me that they'd been in three consecutive World Series twice: 1972-74, and 1988-90. Anyway, for more overlooked Oakland baseball, dial in your XM gadget to 182 for today's match, or do so on DirecTV, right around 728.

Those are today's games, y'all. Time in, tune in, and turn out.

(Update: It occurred to me post-publication that Old No. 7 had taken on BitD today as well. I blame two things: Our non-existent Managing Editor, and the ultra-competitive vibe between the two of us this week, as I'm secretly destroying Seven in Fantasy Baseball. Hoo-wah!)