On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing baseball matchups.
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (38-24) at Oakland Athletics (33-28) - 9:05 PM ET
Not that your L.A. Angels of A. were in any real trouble anyway with Vladimir Guerrero and Scot Shields suffering nagging injuries. But even through that, the Angels have won their last six games, and did so with Guerrero back in the lineup last night (Shields seems to be on his way back soon) in their 3-1 win over Oakland, who's now four and a half games back of the Halos in the A.L. West.
Oakland's been just as hot, following up a four game losing streak by winning four in a row before last night's loss. But the way the Angels have been going, the swingin' A's had better do some swinging before the Angels make a mockery of this division.
Tampa Bay Rays (36-25) at Texas Rangers (31-32) - 8:05 PM ET
The Rays dropped a 12 spot on the Rangers last night, meaning they dramatically dropped the amount of swings and misses that they had in the previous night's brawl against the Red Sox. The next few games will tell a bit about their character as they shuffle through some suspensions, but they'll be staggered so the Rays aren't going to lose everybody at once. As for the Rangers, they've only lost Sidney Ponson, who was designated for assignment for being a general pain in the posterior.
Philadelphia Phillies (37-26) at Atlanta Braves (32-30) - 7:10 PM ET
Teams that hope to have successful seasons need wins like the Phillies had last night ... wins where they take advantage of ninth inning errors to tie the game, take the lead in the tenth inning thanks to guys like Shane Victorino, and then come up with defensive plays that may or may not be made by Victorino where the tying run gets thrown out at the plate by mere inches. Yeah, that's what potential champions do. And the Phillies who are proving themselves to be potential champions, get another crack at the Atlanta Braves tonight.
Everyone else:
- Royals at Yankees 1:05 ET
- Orioles at Blue Jays 1:07 ET
- Cubs at Dodgers 3:55 ET
- Mariners at Red Sox 3:55 ET
- Indians at Tigers 3:55 ET
- Diamondbacks at Pirates 7:05 ET
- Cardinals at Astros 7:05 ET
- Twins at White Sox 7:05 ET
- Giants at Nationals 7:10 ET
- Reds at Marlins 7:10 ET
- Brewers at Rockies 8:05 ET
- Mets at Padres 10:05 ET
