On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing baseball matchups.
New York Yankees (68-60) at Baltimore Orioles (61-66) 7:05 PM ET
I remember it being early April, 2007. I was just starting out at FanHouse, and I was blogging my ever-loving heart out while wearing some new pajamas that I had bought to celebrate my arrival here. It was then when all of a sudden, a loud "whoosh" rattled my windows and knocked me off of my seat. I thought it was some sort of freakish weather pattern, or an airplane flying a bit too low while landing at LaGuardia.
Turns out there was nothing to worry about. It was just Carl Pavano falling off the face of the earth.
Today, as Pavano gets ready to make his return to the majors for the first time since April 9th of '07, I'm prepared for the "whoosh" of Carl Pavano coming back to earth. Fun fact: Pavano was the winning pitcher in his last major league appearance, a victory over the Twins. The losing pitcher: Sidney Ponson.
Tampa Bay Rays (78-49) at Chicago White Sox (73-54) - 3:55 PM ET
A similar whoosh was heard in Tampa Bay recently, as Rocco Baldelli returned to the Rays last week for the first time since May of last season. Last night, Baldelli took another step towards the land of the living as he homered for the first time since May 3rd of '07. Fun fact Part 2: The pitcher that Baldelli hit that home run off of: You guessed it! Ramon Ortiz. (What, you thought I was going to say Sidney Ponson?)
Sports
Los Angeles Dodgers (65-63) at Philadelphia Phillies (69-59) - 3:55 PM ET
The last time Clayton Kershaw matched up with Cole Hamels, it was Hamels that outdueled the youngster (well, Hamels is only 24 ... so he outdueled the youngerster, or something.) But the Phils 'pen blew it for their starter. Today, it's young and younger again at Hamels and Kershaw find themselves in another battle. Hopefully for the Dodgers, Greg Maddux never talked to Hamels about pitching ... as a meeting with Kyle Kendrick perhaps sowed the seeds for Kendrick to pitch brilliantly against L.A. last night while Maddux had his head handed to him in his second Dodger debut.
Everyone else:
- Nationals at Cubs 1:05 ET
- Red Sox at Blue Jays 1:07 ET
- Braves at Cardinals 3:55 ET
- Padres at Giants 4:05 ET
- Pirates at Brewers 7:05 ET
- Astros at Mets 7:10 ET
- Tigers at Royals 7:10 ET
- Reds at Rockies 8:05 ET
- Indians at Rangers 8:05 ET
- Marlins at Diamondbacks 8:10 ET
- Twins at Angels 9:05 ET
- Athletics at Mariners 10:10 ET
