FanHouse

On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing baseball matchups

Kansas City Royals (14-16) vs. Los Angeles Angels (20-13) - 8:10PM Est.

Who the hell needs John Lackey and Kelvim Escobar? It's a question that many Angels fans have probably been asking themselves a bit the last few weeks. I mean, those two were only the two best starters on the Angels staff last year, winning a combined 37 games.

Who needs those 37 wins when you have Joe Saunders and Ervin Santana? Those two have pitched back-to-back all season long, and neither have bothered to try losing a game yet. Yesterday Saunders improved to 6-0 on the year with a win over the Orioles, and today Ervin will try to join his teammate at 6-0.

Ervin's turnaround this season has been rather remarkable, as with a win tonight, he'll only be one shy of his total from 2007. Santana finished up last season with a 7-14 record and a 5.87 ERA, and was then subjected to hearing his name come up in trade rumors all offseason long. The Angels never pulled the trigger on any of those deals, and now Santana is rewarding them by finally realizing his potential.

Ervin will have to turn around his fortune against Kansas City to do so though, as he's 1-2 with a 6.04 ERA in four career starts against the Royals. The Royals will counter with Brett Tomko, and he's been pitching like, well, Brett Tomko. He's lost his last three starts, including a season worst 3.1 inning outing in his last start which saw him give up five runs against the Rangers. He's already faced the Angels once this season, and he lost that start as well, allowing five runs over seven innings.

Cincinnati Reds (12-20) vs. Chicago Cubs (18-13) - 7:10PM Est.

Ervin Santana isn't the only hurler taking to the mound tonight with an unblemished record on the line, and he also isn't the most surprising of the few undefeated pitchers remaining in the big leagues. That honor would belong to the Cubs Ryan Dempster who is 4-0 on the season, and has been the Cubs most consistent starter (non-Zambrano division) despite the fact he was the team's closer last season.

Though something tells me the 9.07 runs of support his offense has given him in his starts has a lot more to do with Ryan's record than anything he's doing. Don't get me wrong, it's not like he's giving up 7 runs a game, but all those runs being scored behind him are helping hide some of Dempster's weaknesses. Like the fact he's walked 19 guys in 37 innings.

Ryan will be going against Johnny Cueto, who was supposed to be the next Sandy Koufax after his first two starts, but has come crashing back down to earth ever since. Cueto lasted only 1.2 innings in his last start against the Cardinals, allowing six runs, and is 0-3 with a 7.89 ERA in his last four starts.

Arizona Diamondbacks (21-10) vs. Philadelphia Phillies (18-14) - 9:40PM Est.

Tonight we'll get a glimpse of what could be a playoff matchup come October when the Diamondbacks and Phillies begin a four game set in the desert. This game could also be one of your only chances to see Max Scherzer start for Arizona this season, as all signs point to the fact he won't be around long no matter how well he performs in Doug Davis' place.

Scherzer pitched 4.1 innings out of the bullpen against the Astros last week, and retired all 13 batters he faced. Something tells me he's not going to throw a no-hitter tonight, but it should be interesting to see how he handles Chase Utley, Pat Burrell, and Ryan Howard tonight.

The Phillies will send out Jamie Moyer who, if you weren't aware, is extremely old. He's also 1-2 on the season with a 4.50 ERA and is looking to reach the seventh inning for the first time this season. I doubt he'll get there tonight, as there's a big shuffleboard tournament tomorrow morning, and Jamie is going to want to get his rest before hand.
Everybody Else

• Tigers vs. Red Sox 7:05PM ESPN
• Blue Jays vs. White Sox 7:07PM
• Rockies vs. Cardinals 8:35PM
• A's vs. Orioles 10:05PM
  
• Mariners vs. Rangers 10:10PM
• Dodgers vs. Mets 10:10PM