4.9 Random Sampling

Some of the games i'll be keeping an eye on today

Diamondbacks vs. Giants

The Diamondbacks are off to a less than inspiring start while the Giants continue to grasp a hold onto first place. Speaking of the Giants, Heather and I just got tickets to see the Brewers-Giants game on August 31st...yaaaay.

Starting tonight for the Giants is Tim Lincecum. I actually saw him start a game in 2008 against the Brewers. It wasn't his best day on the mound as he gave up five runs that day, three of those coming on a three run homer by Ryan Braun.

Blue Jays vs. Astros

The Blue Jays may have an okay 4-4 record but i'm not exactly okay with how they are getting there. I got Edwin Encarnacion (who's a little sluggish so far) and Brett Lawrie (who's off to a worse start...-25 OPS+) but then again small sample sizes can be funky and these stretches would be less noticeable if they didn't happen so early in the season. I think Encarnacion starts mashing the ball sooner or later but Lawrie's spot on my fantasy team long term is less than guaranteed at this point.

Mets vs. Braves

If the Mets do find a way to win today, they would find themselves in a tie for third place. For the Braves, they get  their first start from Ervin Santana and the first glimpse of how justified paying him $14 million this year is going to be.

Nationals vs. Marlins

I'm very pleased with how Gio Gonzales has pitched in his first couple starts this year, (even if i'm not pleased about being in 11th place after the first week). So far, the Nationals have been as good as advertised but a loss to the Marlins tonight would put the Marlins back in first place.

Angels vs. Mariners

I caught a little bit of their game last night and did see Corey Hart blast his third homer of the year. If the Mariners are going to surprise people and stay in first place, they'll probably need Hart to hit 25-30 more of those by year's end.

Royals vs. Rays

The Royals have yet to hit a home run this year but today may be a good day as anyto hit one out. The AL East in general may be off to a sluggish start. The Rays coming off a low scoring win yesterday, which was enough to give them first place for another day.

Indians vs. Padres

We're a week and a half into the season and the Indians are already on their second double header. I was watching quick pitch this morning and they showed the end of this game from last night where John Axford got the last batter to fly out to Nyjer Morgan, for a few moments I sort of had a flashback to the 2011 Brewers.

Brewers vs. Phillies

And the winning streak is up to four...yay...hopefully today it will go up to five and the only question is whether 6-2 will be needed to keep sharing first place or for the Brewers to have it to themselves for more than a few hours.