Chien-Ming Wang and Josh Beckett will square off in possibly the biggest match-up between the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox in the 2007 regular season. Beckett has the more Cy Young like statistics of the two Aces with a 3.27 earned run average, 1.14 WHIP, .245 BAA, and 8.57 K/9 but his one loss since July 31st came against the Yankees and he is only 3-3 versus the Yankees since joining the Red Sox in 2006. It would be a big win for Beckett to out duel Wang and put that under his belt before the end of the season. The only guarantee I can give is that this should be a great game to watch.
Jermaine Dye, of the Chicago White Sox, really turned around his batting average after his future with the team was decided around the trading deadline. Before August 1st Dye was .232 with 19 homeruns (1 per 17.68 AB) and 52 runs batted in (1 per 6.46 AB). Since August 1st Dye is batting .307 with seven homeruns (1 per 17.71 AB) and 17 runs batted in (1 per 7.29 AB). Those numbers don't stand up to his career best numbers from 2006, but at least he didn't take the rest of the season off like some of his teammates seem to have done at times in the second half. Dye went two for four with two runs batted in on Friday night against the Los Angeles Angles of Anaheim.
Jered Weaver, of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim is coming off of the worst outing of his career last Sunday against the Cleveland Indians. Today, he will take on the Chicago White Sox. Weaver has had an extremely disappointing season considering his 2006 stats which led some to believe he may be a fantasy stud. Weaver is currently 11-7 with a 4.00 earned run average and he has had four really bad starts (24 ER in 20.2 IP) in his last ten and two of them in his last five starts. Weaver's owners as well as the Angels need him to get going and build up some momentum before the Playoffs.
Chien-Ming Wang and Josh Beckett will square off in possibly the biggest match-up between the New York Yankees ad Boston Red Sox in the 2007 regular season. Wang will take the hill in search of his 19th win of the year. Wang has an earned run average of 3.69, a WHIP of 1.27, a .262 BAA, and only a 4.53 K/9. Wang doesn't have magnificent numbers but the wins and ERA tell the truth. Expect Wang to give the Yankees a chance to win by posting a quality start.
Joe Blanton, of the Oakland Athletics, had a rough stretch back in July, but he has gotten back into the groove that he was in before the All-Star break in his last eight starts (except August 10th). Since August 4th Blanton is 5-1 with a 3.64 earned run average. Since August 15th the big right-hander is 4-1 with a 2.42 ERA. Blanton will face the Texas Rangers, today, for the second time this season. On April 20th Blanton earned a win against the Rangers by throwing six innings and allowing three runs while striking out seven.
