On Deck: Oakland Won't Go Away

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

Oakland Athletics (29-23) vs. Toronto Blue Jays (28-26) - 10:05PM Est.

After a stretch of games in which the Athletics lost 9 of 11 and had fallen to only a game over .500, I thought that their surprising early season success was coming to an end. Given the fact that the average age of players on the team not named Frank Thomas is 15 years and 7 months, I felt it was only a matter of time before reality set in on Oakland, and that they'd regress to the mean.

Apparently, as happens pretty often, I was wrong. The A's followed that stretch with a sweep of the Red Sox, and they put an end to Toronto's five-game win streak on Tuesday night for their fifth win in a row.

They've pulled back to within two games of the division leading Angels, and now they've got me wondering if they'll be able to keep this up all season, or at least for one more day.


If Rich Harden somehow manages to stay healthy for the rest of the 2008 campaign, they'd have a better shot at it, that's for sure. Of course, asking Rich Harden to stay healthy is like asking your wife for a threesome with her best friend.

Odds are, it's just not going to happen, but it's worth a shot.

Rich has been fantastic in the limited time he's been able to pitch so far, as he hasn't allowed more than two runs in four of his last five starts. He's 2-0 with a 1.59 ERA at home this season, but 0-3 with a 5.59 ERA in five career starts against Toronto.

There is some good news for Rich, though, because if he does manage to injure himself during today's start there will be a doctor in the house to help him out as Roy Halladay gets the start for Toronto. Halladay is coming off of his fifth complete game of the season in his last start, yet he's only 5-5 on the season with a 3.11 ERA.

The last time Roy faced off against Oakland, he went nine innings but didn't pick up the win or a complete game as Oakland walked away with a 5-4 win in extra innings. He's 4-4 with a 5.35 ERA in 11 career starts against Oakland.

Chicago Cubs (31-21) vs. Los Angeles Dodgers (26-25) - ESPN - 8:00PM Est.

Am I the only one who finds it annoying that ESPN would show the same two teams playing for the second night in a row? Is there some kind of rule in Bristol that unless you play in Boston, New York, Chicago, or Los Angeles, you aren't getting a national broadcast?

I'm not saying that this game isn't worthy of national attention, as the Cubs are tied for the best record in baseball, and it has a pretty good pitching matchup, but couldn't the worldwide leader have shown somebody else last night then? I mean, I have the Extra Innings package, so I can watch whoever I want whenever I want, but not every baseball fan out there rolls like I do. Not everybody makes that blogger money.

Can't the Astros and Cardinals get some love? The A's or Blue Jays?

Carlos Zambrano starts for the Cubs, and he'll be bringing the crazy tonight as he tries to improve to 8-1 on the season and continue his bid for the NL Cy Young. He'll also be looking to help the Cubs pull off their first sweep of the Dodgers at Wrigley Field for the first time since 2001. Zambrano is 2-2 with a 3.35 ERA lifetime against Los Angeles.

The Dodgers will counter with the struggling Derek Lowe, who hasn't managed to win a game since April 23rd. In his last six starts, Derek is 0-4 with a 7.29 ERA, and he's 1-1 with a 3.72 ERA in his six starts against the Cubs.

Baltimore Orioles (26-25) vs. New York Yankees (25-27) - 7:05PM Est.

Just when the Yankees had won five in a row to crawl over .500, and get out of last place in the AL East, the Orioles came along and knocked the Bombers right back down again. Of course, it probably didn't help the Yankees that they blew two seperate four run leads in yesterday's 10-9 slugfest. Now the Orioles look to complete a three-game sweep of the Yankees for the first time since 2005.

Jeremy Guthrie will start for Baltimore, and he's hoping his teammates saved some home runs for tonight because he wouldn't mind some support. Jeremy hasn't allowed more than a run in his last two starts, but he hasn't come away with a victory in either game. Of course, this is nothing new for Jeremy, as the Orioles aren't even averaging three runs a game when he starts.

Andy Pettite goes for the Yankees, and if there's anybody on the Yankees that can help avoid a sweep at the hands of the Orioles, it's the apologetic one. Pettite is 23-6 with a 3.77 ERA in his career, with that win total being seven games higher than any other opponent Andy's faced in his lifetime. He's won his last three starts against them, including once this year when he went seven shutout innings.

Everybody Else

• Indians vs. White Sox - 12:05PM
• Rays vs. Rangers - 12:40PM
• Phillies vs. Rockies - 7:05PM
• Reds vs. Pirates - 7:10PM
• Mets vs. Marlins - 7:10PM
• Brewers vs. Braves - 8:05PM
• Royals vs. Twins - 8:10PM
• Cardinals vs. Astros - 8:15PM
• DBacks vs. Giants - 9:40PM
• Angels vs. Tigers - 10:05PM
• Padres vs. Nationals - 10:05PM
• Mariners vs. Red Sox - 10:15PM