On Deck: Day Games Galore - FanHouse - AOL Sports Blog

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

Chicago Cubs (24-16) vs. San Diego Padres (15-26) - 2:20PM Est.

There are thirteen games on the schedule today in baseball, and nine of them are going to be played under the sun, the way the baseball gods intended it to be. So I figure I may as well feature the team that plays more day games than anybody else in baseball, the Chicago Cubs.

The Cubs offense has been mashing the ball all season long, and now Alfonso Soriano has finally joined in on the fun, as he's homered in three straight games (leading off the last two). Soriano is hitting .487 on the current 10-game homestand for the Cubs, a homestand that Chicago is off to a 5-1 start on.

Today will also mark the debut of Jim Edmonds in a Cubs uniform, as what most Cubs fans would surely consider a sign of the apocalypse becomes reality today. Why the Cubs would need Edmonds, I don't know, but they got him.


It's poetic justice that Edmonds' first game with the Cubs would come against the team that just released him. He'll be hitting sixth and playing centerfield this afternoon.

Ryan Dempster gets the start for Chicago, and he hasn't gotten a win in his last two starts, but it hasn't been due to his performance. He's been the victim of a lack of offense, and a bad bullpen the last few times out. He's 5-3 with a 4.35 ERA in his career against San Diego.

The Padres will counter with former Cub (and future Cub if some folks get their way) Greg Maddux, and they're hoping it doesn't take him nearly as long to get win #351 in his career as it did to get #350. Maddux is 12-3 with a 2.56 ERA in his career against the Cubs, including a 6-1 mark and 2.32 ERA when pitching at Wrigley as a visitor.

Milwaukee Brewers (20-20) vs. Los Angeles Dodgers (20-19) - 1:05PM Est.

The Dodgers have been a bit up and down as of late. After a seven game win streak last week came to an end, the Dodgers followed it up by losing six of their next eight. This is what's generally called "counterproductive." They're hoping that a comeback win against the Brewers last night will be enough to get the positive momentum going again, but there's that old saying in baseball that momentum is as strong as the next day's starting pitcher.

Well, LA's starter today is Chad Bilingsley, who isn't a bad option. The problem is that Milwaukee's starter today is Ben Sheets, and that's a bit of a momentum killer. Sheets hasn't lost a game yet this season, and just became the Brewers all-time strikeout leader in his last start. Ben is 3-5 lifetime against the Dodgers, but went 1-1 with a 1.76 ERA against them in two starts last season.

Billingsley would finally like to get his season on track, and is coming off a bad start against the Astros in which he allowed five runs in five innings. Today will mark Chad's first start against Milwaukee, though he does have a 16.20 ERA from the two times he's faced them out of the pen.

Minnesota Twins (20-19) vs. Toronto Blue Jays (20-22) - 1:10PM Est.

The Minnesota Twins have been playing extremely well at home this season, going 14-7 in their first 21 games there, and using that success to climb to first place in the AL Central. Then the Blue Jays came to town, took the first two of this series, and dropped the Twins to second place.

Today they try and keep those Canadian invaders from pulling off a sweep.

They'll have to learn to stop the almighty Matt Stairs first, though. In the first two games of this series, Stairs is 2-for-5 with two homers, five runs driven in, and two walks. He's also scored four runs. It'll be up to Glen Perkins to keep Stairs and the rest of the Jays in check. Today will be the first time he's faced Toronto.

Toronto will send Dustin McGowan to the mound, who's coming off an ass-whipping in Cleveland. Dustin allowed 9 runs in 3.2 innings against Cleveland his last time out, and dropped to 5-13 with a 6.12 ERA in his career on the road. He's faced the Twins twice in his career, with one start, and hasn't allowed them to score a run yet.

Everybody Else

• Indians vs. A's 12:05PM
• Mets vs. Nationals 1:10PM
• Cardinals vs. Pirates 1:15PM
• Royals vs. Tigers 2:10PM
• Giants vs. Astros 3:45PM
• Rays vs. Yankees 4:10PM
• Phillies vs. Braves 7:05PM
• Reds vs. Marlins 7:10PM
• DBacks vs. Rockies 9:40PM
• Angels vs. White Sox 10:05PM