On Deck: Webb's Gems - FanHouse - AOL Sports Blog

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

Arizona Diamondbacks (22-12) vs. Philadelphia Phillies (20-15) - 3:40PM Est.

If I were a member of the Philadelphia Phillies, I'd probably just skip the trip to Chase Field and go straight to the airport to catch my flight to San Francisco. I mean, Brandon Webb is starting for the Diamondbacks this afternoon, so you already know you're going to lose, why waste your time?

Webb has won his first seven starts of the season, which makes him 7-0, and has an ERA of 2.49 while doing so. Now he's looking to get off to the fastest start ever by an Arizona pitcher, as he's already tied Randy Johnson's mark with his first seven starts. The Big Unit accomplished his feat in 2000, and then went on to win the second of the four straight Cy Youngs he won for the DBacks.

The crazy thing is, if Webb does win today and move to 8-0, it may set a team record for the quickest to eight wins, but it won't even be the first time in Brandon's career he's started a season 8-0. He did it in 2006, though it took him eleven starts, and went on to win his own Cy Young award.

In other words, Webb is good. He hasn't been that good against the Phillies in his career, though, as even though he has a respectable 3.99 ERA against them, he's 2-3 in eight career starts.
Brett Myers goes for the Phillies, and much like the rest of Philly's staff, he's been rather average this season. Myers is 2-2 with a 4.70 ERA, but is coming off a strong start against the Giants in which he allowed only two runs in seven innings. Brett's 2-1 with a 3.00 ERA against Arizona in his career.

Detroit Tigers (15-20) vs. Boston Red Sox (22-14) - 7:05PM Est.

If the Tigers are ever going to start playing like the team everybody thought they'd be this season, it would probably help if Justin Verlander got his act together. Verlander is 1-5 with a 6.28 ERA, and has allowed at least four runs in six of his seven starts this season. Another loss today, and Justin will have his second three-start losing streak of the young season.

It's not going to be easy for Justin to break through, though, as he's not facing one of the easiest lineups in the world, and his offense isn't facing one of the easiest pitchers to handle, either. The Tigers may have had a season-high 18 hits last night, but given their inconsistency all season, I don't think they'll manage that many against Josh Beckett.

Josh got off to a slow start to the season, but he's won three of his last four starts, and hasn't had an outing shorter than seven innings in those four starts. He did struggle in his one start against the Tigers, though, allowing five runs in six innings in a loss back in 2006.

Florida Marlins (19-14) vs. Milwaukee Brewers (16-17) - 7:10PM Est.

Okay, so we're nearly one and a half months into the season, and I'm still not entirely sure how the Marlins are in first place in the NL East. I know they lost it to the Phillies for a few days, but they've won three straight and four of their last five to reclaim it. Doing so in spite of the fact that their starting pitchers have a 5.22 ERA this season, one of the highest in the majors.

Today's starter, Mark Hendrickson, has been a bright spot though, going 5-1 with a 3.71 ERA. Hendrickson looks to win his sixth straight decision against the Brewers tonight. He hasn't seen Milwaukee much, going 0-1 with a 4.85 ERA in three appearances against Milwaukee, two of which were starts.

Carlos Villanueva starts for Milwaukee, and he's looking to help the Brewers put an end to their 5-game losing streak and get back to .500 on the season. Villanueva has lost his last three starts, which is nothing new on the Brewers as no Milwaukee starter has won a game since April 5th without the word Sheets on the back of his jersey. Carlos has also given up 8 home runs in 34 innings this season, and today he gets to face a team that's second in the majors with 45 home runs on the season.

Everybody Else

• Pirates vs. Giants 12:35PM
• Braves vs. Padres 1:00PM
• Yankees vs. Indians 1:05PM
• White Sox vs. Twins 2:05PM
• Rockies vs. Cardinals 3:05PM
• Blue Jays vs. Rays 7:07PM
• Astros vs. Nationals 8:05PM
• Royals vs. Orioles 8:10PM
• Mariners vs. Rangers 10:10PM