ESPN's Sunday Night Evening Game of the Week is actually at 6pm EDT this week, as it looks like they've decided to ditch an American League matchup featuring two competitive teams in favor of a National League matchup featuring two somewhat competitive teams (although the Braves are my darkhorse pick in the NL East.) While I'd like to see Francisco Liriano pitch against the Rangers lineup, Javier Vazquez and his ginormous whiff rates should also be entertaining. All the creative speculation as to why the Mets are underperforming? Not so entertaining. I am hoping Jeff Francoeur hits a walk-off home run, though. Your starting pitchers:
* - Please note that while Nieve has a 3.03 ERA, his K/BB ratio is 1.3. Vazquez's K/BB ratio is 5.9. Day-um.
Pre-game discussion suggestions:
- Holes that should be addressed on teams in contention but that probably won't be.
- Players deemed off limits in deadline deals but who probably shouldn't be.
- Trade targets who aren't getting enough attention.
- A trade rumor you'd like to get started.