FanHouse

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

Philadelphia Phillies (35-26) vs. Cincinnati Reds (29-31) - 1:05PM Est.

You can't blame the Reds for trying to strike while the iron is hot, especially given the way that Jay Bruce has lit the world up since making his debut with the big league ball club last week, and they'll hope that success carries over to the pitcher's mound as well. Today the Reds will be handing the ball to Homer Bailey as they just called him up from Louisville and they're hoping he'll do a lot better in his second tour of duty.

Bailey was supposed to be Edinson Volquez when the Reds brought him up last season, and though he showed some signs of why the Reds are so high on him, his first season in the Majors wasn't that great.

He'll look to get his career started this afternoon against one of the most potent offenses in all of baseball.

Oh, and there's the whole Ken Griffey Jr. looking for homer # 600 as well.


Bailey went 4-2 with the Reds last season, but he had an ERA of 5.76 that says a lot more about how he pitched than his record did. He had one start against the Phillies last June, and it wasn't his best day. Homer allowed six runs and six hits in 1.2 innings as the Phillies would go on to win 11-4.

The Phillies will send Cole Hamels to the mound, and he's coming off of two very shaky performances. In his last two starts, Cole has lasted only 9.2 innings while allowing 13 runs and 15 hits. He does enjoy pitching against the Reds, though, beating them once already this season and is 2-0 with a 0.86 ERA against them in his career.

He also has yet to allow a hit to Griffey, who is 0-2 against Hamels in his career.

Also, as if all that wasn't enough, Jon Bois will be live-blogging the game here at FanHouse this afternoon.

Boston Red Sox (37-25) vs. Tampa Bay Rays (35-24) - 6:05PM Est.

The first eight games between these teams this season have been incredibly easy to predict. Whoever is wearing the home jersey is going to win. The Red Sox have won all five games played at Fenway, where they're now 23-5 this season, and the Rays have won all three games at the Trop.

Of course, the last two games have been the most important as the Red Sox have climbed past the Rays once more in the AL East, and look to finish off the sweep tonight.

Jon Lester starts for Boston, and he's been off his game lately, as he hasn't thrown a no-hitter, won a World Series, or beaten cancer in either of his last two starts. In his career against the Rays, Jon is 2-0 with a 4.71 ERA in five starts, and did pick up one of those wins at Fenway back in May.

James Shields goes for Tampa, and he'll be looking to keep the Rays from losing three straight since last time they played the Red Sox at Fenway. Not to mention, a win today would put the Rays back in first place. Lifetime against Boston Shields is 1-3 with a 4.76 ERA, and is 1-1 against them this season.

Chicago White Sox (32-26) vs. Kansas City Royals (23-36) - 8:11PM Est.

So it looks like Ozzie Guillen's latest threats to make changes to the Sox lineup are paying off. The changes to the lineup weren't as drastic as Guillen made it seem they'd be, as he only swapped Paul Konerko and Jermaine Dye in the order, but they've worked. The Sox have hit seven home runs in their last two games, including Konerko's walk-off in the 15th inning of last night's game.

Today the Sox look to finish off a sweep of AL Central doormat, Kansas City.

They'll be looking to do it behind the rejuvenated Jose Contreras, who is back to looking like the Jose Contreras of the White Sox World Series run. Jose has gone 3-0 with a 1.54 ERA in his last five starts, and is 8-4 with a 3.41 ERA in his career against Kansas City. The bad news is that all four of those losses have come in his last six starts against them.

Gil Meche goes for the Royals, and he hasn't much looked like the pitcher he was last season. Meche is 3-7 with a 5.35 ERA this season, though he has had success against Chicago in his career. He's 6-2 with a 4.09 ERA in 12 career starts, and he's gone 3-1 in seven starts at U.S. Cellular Field.

Everybody Else

• Yankees vs. Blue Jays - 1:05PM
• Twins vs. Orioles - 1:10PM
• Nationals vs. Cardinals - 1:10PM Game 1
• Braves vs. Marlins - 7:00PM
• Pirates vs. Astros - 7:05PM
• Nationals vs. Cardinals - 7:10PM Game 2
• Rangers vs. Indians - 8:05PM
• Padres vs. Mets - 10:05PM
• Dodgers vs. Cubs - 10:10PM