On Deck: Chasing the Cubs

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

Since the Milwaukee Brewers and the Chicago Cubs are the two teams in the NL Central making all the moves, most people have begun writing off the St. Louis Cardinals as division contenders. It's pretty hard to blame anyone for feeling this way. After all, in recent weeks the Brewers have added an ace to their starting rotation in CC Sabathia, and just yesterday they added some infield depth when they picked up Ray Durham from the Giants.

I don't expect the Durham trade to be Milwaukee's last play, either.

Meanwhile, the Cubs have added Rich Harden and Chad Gaudin to their pitching staff, and there's talk they're thinking of adding someone like A.J. Burnett to the rotation, and Brian Fuentes or Huston Street to the bullpen.

The Cardinals? Well, for the most part they're just crossing their fingers that Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright can return in August and provide a boost to the ballclub. The problem with this approach is that the Redbirds may very well find themselves out of the race by then if they sit on their hands. That's why every game right now is important for the Cardinals, and the four game set they're about to begin with the Brewers tonight is huge.


St. Louis Cardinals (57-43) vs. Milwaukee Brewers (55-43) - ESPN - 7:05PM Est.

Now before the Brewers can challenge the Chicago Cubs, they're going to have to get by the Cardinals first, and as they begin their series tonight Milwaukee trails St. Louis by a game. Both teams are coming off of sweeps this past weekend, but only one win streak is going to survive the night.

Seeing as how both Sabathia and Ben Sheets will pitch in the final two games of this series it's important for the Cardinals to win the first two matchups. Joel Pineiro will look to get that first win for the Redbirds, who have lost five of their last seven against the Brew Crew. Joel has only picked up one win in his last eleven starts, and in his last start against the Pirates he allowed six runs and 10 hits in 5.2 innings. He's faced Milwaukee once this season, and didn't get a decision as he allowed only two runs in 6.1 innings of work.

The Brewers will hand the ball to Seth McLung, who wouldn't mind a little more support from the Brewers usually potent offense. Apparently the Brewers only like to score on days where Seth isn't playing because they've only managed three runs of support for him in his last three starts. In McLung's last outing, he struck out a career high seven and gave up only three runs in 6.1 innings, but picked up the loss as Milwaukee fell to Cincinnati 8-2.

Arizona Diamondbacks (48-50) vs. Chicago Cubs (58-40) - 9:40PM Est.

While the Brewers and Cardinals beat up on each other in St. Louis, the Cubs will be looking to exact some revenge on the Diamondbacks for sweeping them out of the playoffs last October. They'll also be showing off their newest pitcher as Rich Harden makes his second start in a Cubs uniform.

Harden was fantastic in his sole Chicago start before the break, striking out ten in only 5.1 innings, but didn't pick up a decision as the Cubs bullpen blew the game late. The Cubs will be hoping Rich gives them more of the same this evening, though another inning or two would be nice, and help get things turned around on the road. While the Cubs dominate at Wrigley, they've lost 11 of 16 on the road where they're only 21-28 this season.

Cubs fans can talk World Series all they want, but until the team learns how to win on the road, there's no point.

The Diamondbacks would just like to win anywhere, as they're two games under .500. Of course, they play in the NL West where that's good enough for a first place tie with the Dodgers (can we get MLB to implement a rule in which teams that finish under .500 aren't allowed in the playoffs?).

Some dude with a mullet named Randy Johnson will pitch for Arizona tonight, and he's had decent success against the Cubs in his career. In thirteen career starts against Chicago, Randy is 12-0 with a 1.98 ERA.

New York Yankees (53-45) vs. Minnesota Twins (55-43) - 7:05PM Est.

While the Yankees are still trailing both the Red Sox and Rays in the AL East, the Twins are currently only a half-game behind the White Sox in the AL Central. I'm just about convinced at this point that the Twins are going to win the Central this season, but that they're purposely sitting behind the White Sox for now and waiting until the last week of the season before passing them.

That way it will hurt me more. I know, you think I'm just paranoid but I'm telling you, the Twins are evil, sadistic bastards. Of course, these games are important too because just in case their plan falls through, the Twins will still have to compete with the Yankees for the wild card spot in the AL.

Nick Blackburn will start for the Twinkies tonight, as the Twins make their last trip to Yankee Stadium. Nick has faced the Yankees once in his career, and though he did very well that day (allowing only a run in 4.1 innings), it's not a pleasant memory for him. Days when you take line drives off of your face seldom are.

The Yankees have won their last seven at home, and Sidney Ponson will look to make it eight straight tonight. The portly trouble-maker will be making his fourth start in pinstripes this year, and the last time he faced the Twins Sir Sidney threw his first complete game in three years.

Everybody Else

• Orioles vs. Blue Jays - 7:05PM
• Reds vs. Padres - 7:10PM
• Marlins vs. Braves - 7:10PM
• Rays vs. A's - 7:10PM
• Astros vs. Pirates - 8:05PM
• Royals vs. Tigers - 8:10PM
• White Sox vs. Rangers - 8:35PM
• Rockies vs. Dodgers - 9:05PM
• Angels vs. Indians - 10:05PM
• Mariners vs. Red Sox - 10:10PM