On Deck: Cover Your Wallets, Clemens Is Pitching Today

On Deck is The FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing matchups

New York Yankees (41-42) vs. Los Angeles Angels (52-34)-FOX 3:55PM Est.

I had a tough time picking today's "featured" game in today's On Deck. Looking at the matchups, there just isn't anything all that great to choose from. The Tigers/Red Sox game stood out, but I did that yesterday and I like to keep things fresh here. So I just had to settle on the Yankees and Angels because it's on national television and there are two good pitchers in this one. The Angels usually dominate the Yankees in New York, including a sweep earlier this season, but the Bombers were able to get one from them last night. Roger Clemens looks to get win #351 of his career this afternoon, and get the Yankees back to .500 again. Twenty-nine of those 351 wins have come against the Angels, more than any other team Roger's faced. He's 29-9 with a 2.65 ERA against the Halos. Of course, if he doesn't win today, I'm sure he won't turn down the $3 million or so he's making for this start. John Lackey will try to stop him and become the third pitcher in the AL this season to get 12 wins before the All-Star break. He hasn't done quite as well against the Yankees, sporting a 4-6 record and 5.35 ERA against them in his career.


Kansas City Royals (36-50) vs. Tampa Bay Devil Rays (34-51)-7:10PM Est.

Watch out world, the Devil Rays finally ended their 11-game losing streak last night and now they're poised to go on a win streak of epic proportions. That's right, they might win two in a row this evening. It's going to be up to Andy Sonnanstine to keep the Royals bats at bay. Don't be fooled by Andy's 1-3 record and 5.63 ERA, he's still the greatest Sonnanstine to ever play this game. He'll be facing the Royals lone All-Star, Gil Meche, who's 3.26 ERA was good enough to get him the nod over any other Royal despite his 5-6 record. That could be good news for the Devil Rays, as Meche has struggled against them, going 1-4 with a 5.11 ERA in his career.

Houston Astros (38-49) vs. New York Mets (47-38)-7:05 PM Est.

I never thought I'd see the day when Jose Reyes-Jose Reyes!-was benched for not hustling. Seriously. I picture Jose jumping out of bed every morning and sprinting to the kitchen to pour a bowl of cereal. Then he probably downs the bowl in 3 or 4 seconds before taking an 15-second shower. Who knows how he's going to react in today's game. He'll probably run full speed onto and off the field between each inning while fitting in trips to the stands to get his manager some cotton candy. Tom Glavine looks for win 298 against the Astros, but he's lost his last four road starts. He'll be going against another old-timer in Woody Williams, who's 4-10 with a 5.47 ERA this season for the Astros. Woody is probably just what the doctor ordered for the Mets limp bats of late.