Baseball in the Daytime: 6-18-09

At the tippy-top of the calendar year, I made a suggestion to the boys that I'd take the Tuesday/Thursday BitD write-ups, and Old No. 7 could have the M-W-F end of things. I figured it might be a wise idea, what with the whole baby thing and whatnot, plus these posts can occasionally be fun to put together.

Well, today's no exception, folks. We've got a mostly interleague variety on tap and there're seven affairs taking place in dark bullpens and on rounded mounds in your neighborhood, so fine-tune your modems and get the crackle out of your speakers, it's time to ingest a healthy dose of day baseball.

After the jump, of course.

Braves @ Redlegs, 11:35 Central: Our lone National League affair comes as an Interleague appetizer today, and you'll find it delightful as righty Tommy Hanson takes the hill for visiting Atlanta, while lefty Matt Maloney represents the home club at Great American Ball Park. Cincinnati's managed to put together consecutive wins after getting swept over the weekend, while the A-T-L looks to snap a four-game skid. DirecTV has the action on channel 721 while XM carries the tune over on 183.

Nats @ Yanks, 12:05: Our first Interleague bout of the day pits a visiting lefty (Craig Stammen) against a home-team right (Joba Chamberlain). Neither one of these fellas has had a spectacular start to 2009 as Stammen still seeks win number one while Chamberlain has struggled to live up to some of the pinstripe hype that hovered around him late last year. Washington is the last team seeking win number 20, but hang on: they'll need to win two more before they can set their sights on that goal. New York, on the other hand, finds themselves three games back of Boston over in the A.L. East. DirecTV 722 and 723; XM 176.

Jays @ Phils, 12:05: Brad Mills and Joe Blanton go toe to toe in tilt number three this fine Thursday. Toronto sends Mills to the hills for his MLB debut, and hopes to see a quality start out of the guy, as they're only a pair behind the Yankees. Philadelphia, having lost two and a row and six of their last 10, still has a three-game lead over Los Mets in the N.L. East, but could use a win today from the hefty Blanton at Citizens Bank Park, who in his last four starts has gone 2-0 with a 2.00 E.R.A., and a 28-6 K-to-BB ratio. Catch this one on DirecTV 724. XM has it on 184.

Pirates @ Twinkies, 12:10: Today's affair at the Metrodome would be a dandy if the Metrodome wasn't such a giant piece of shit. Either way, both clubs are sending out one of their better pitchers in lefty Zach Duke for Pittsburgh and righty Nick Blackburn for the home club. Both fellas have kept their E.R.A.'s respectable and their W-L records above .500. Minnesota has quietly crept up on Detroit in the A.L. Central, while the Bucs have been doing their quite-near-the-basement N.L. Central hovering. Catch the thrills on XM 177 as DirecTV apparently hates the Hubert H. Humphrey as well.

Stockings @ Cubbies, 1:20: It's Gavin Floyd and Carlos Zambrano in the battle of North vs. South. In the N.L. Central, the Baby Bears have quietly slipped into fourth place while the White Sox have put together three in a row and are knocking on the Twins' back door. And yes, that's as gay as it sounded 'cause screw the Twins and the Sox. Speaking of gay, look for Ozzie Guillen and Lou Piniella to make out during the seventh-inning stretch. Look for it on DirecTV 307, 725, or 726. Or listen for their manly saliva swap on XM 185.

Rays @ Rox, 2:10: It's a battle of the flukes in our next-to-last tilt. The 2008 runners-up take on the second-place club from 2007 out at Coors Field this afternoon, and don't call it a comeback: both of these clubs have started to remember how to play baseball as of late. Though they still've a half-dozen games separating them and division-leading Boston, the Rays have climbed over the .500 mark, and the Rockies could very well be looking for their 14th consecutive win if some jerk hadn't jinxed their streak. Oh well. It'll be righties Matt Garza and Ubaldo Jimenez toeing the slab today. They'll do so on DirecTV 727 and 728, while XM'll let you listen in on 186.

Mariners @ Pads, 2:35: One more pair of right-handers to cap things today. The winless Brandon Morrow heads to the mound for Seattle and hopes that his E.R.A. doesn't creep over the six mark while Josh Geer is already there, but at least he's 1-2. Right? Anwyay, Both of these clubs have seen their share of struggles in the last three weeks, and it's cost Seattle significant ground in the A.L. West as they were on top for much of April and May. San Diego, at 14 1/2 back, showed some fire out of the gates, but there was quickly a bucket of what dumped on that inferno. DirecTV says they have it on 729, but I'll bet they're lying. As for XM, they'll carry the signal on channel 187.

There you go, ya' day baseball hounds. Enjoy.