Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action with a quick nod to what is ahead.You Oughta Know ...
That the Red Sox and Rangers weren't able continue what is the closest race for any playoff spot. Both teams were rained out, setting up Sunday to be a huge day in the race. Right now the Red Sox are two games ahead of Texas, and both teams will play doubleheaders on Sunday. Boston is playing Tampa Bay and Texas is playing Seattle.
The Red Sox might take a little advantage over the Rangers out of Friday's weather. Because Boston has an off day on Monday, the doubleheader on Sunday won't force them to dig up a spot starter later in the week. (Daisuke Matsuzaka will return to the Boston rotation on Tuesday, though, replacing Paul Byrd.) The Rangers are going to need a sixth starter for Wednesday's game against the A's, probably Dustin Nippert, Doug Mathis or Guillermo Moscoso.
The Red Sox also caught a break that Jon Lester pitched only one-third of an inning before Friday's game was washed out, so he can still come back on Sunday. Lester was angry that the game was started at all. He fired a ball into the wall the plate when umpires ushered the tarp onto the field.
"Obviously it's very frustrating," said Lester. "They shouldn't even have started the game. It's different when you have a two-hour or one-and-a-half window, but when you have a 30-minute window and you're trying to get five innings of baseball in 30 minutes, that's very frustrating. You have to hurry up to go out there and warm up, and you don't know if you're going to start on time. It's just one of those nights that you have to deal with and try to get through -- luckily it gets postponed to Sunday."From The Trainers' Room...
Giants right-hander Tim Lincecum played catch and said his back felt fine, although the Giants still aren't sure he's going to take his next turn in the rotation. Lincecum is expected to try to throw a bullpen session on Saturday. If that goes well, he'd be cleared to start on Monday, the first of a three-game series against the Rockies. If Lincecum can't go, the Giants would likely give Madison Bumgarner another start.
By The Numbers...
Now that Derek Jeter is the all-time Yankees' hits leader, a little trivia about franchise hits leaders: Three other players lead their current franchises in hits: Colorado's Todd Helton (2,113), Texas' Pudge Rodriguez (1,738) and Tampa Bay's Carl Crawford (1,274). Two other active players lead former franchises in hits. Atlanta's Garret Anderson is still the Angels' leader with 2,368 and the Mets' Luis Castillo holds the Marlins' record with 1,273
In Their Own Words...
"Sometimes, it feels like you're swimming against the current and you're not getting anywhere." -- Cubs catcher Geovany Soto, whose three-hit game on Friday temporarily interrupted what has been a miserable season for the reigning NL Rookie of the Year. Soto is hitting .220 with 10 homers. Last year he hit .285 with 23 homers.
Advance Scouting...
Today's game between the Yankees and Orioles (1:05 PM ET) has a chance to show what it looks like when two very tired teams take the field without the benefit of amphetamines -- not that we think major league players would really have turned to such things for energy. Thanks to a rain delay the two teams ended Friday's game at 1:31 AM ET on Saturday morning. Both starting pitchers, A.J. Burnett and Brian Matusz, were likely sent back from the ballpark to get some sleep long before the game ended, so they could be the only ones who are alert. Might want to take the under -- not that we'd ever bet on baseball.
