Baseball in the Daytime: 4-17-09

It's the second Friday of the 2009 season, and the slate's a bit smaller today, as we'll likely move into fewer afternoon games all around, and select Fridays where the Cubs games are the only ones available before you get off work. There's a deuce on the slate today, so catch the details after the jump.

Non-Hispanic Natives of the Buckeye State @ Charles Masons of the Empire State, 12:05 Central: We get things underway at new Yankee Stadium with a battle of right-handers as the Tribe trots out Anthony Reyes and Team Mushroom Welt sends out dickface Joba Chamberlain. Reyes has already notched a victory this season, which is noteworthy in that Cleveland's only won one game. Chamberlain will be making his first start against the Indians, but has faced them once before, in the post-season. DirecTV has this one on 721 and 722, as does XM, on 176.

Red Birds of Show-Me @ Baby Bears of the Prairie, 1:20: P.J. Walters will get his first Major League Baseball start for St. Louis. His counterpart, Carlos Zambrano, went 7-2 at home last season, but 1-2 overall against the Cards. I imagine Lou Piniella and his staff will closely monitor Big Z's pitch count today, as the fat man threw 118 pitches against the Brewers on Saturday, which through six innings, was good enough to get him the win. Your DirecTV options for this tilt are 307, 723, or 724. XM keeps it simple; they have it on 183.

So, sharpen your pencils, and have your mini score-card clipboards ready. This is Friday-afternoon baseball that promises to keep the lead flowin'.