FanHouse

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

Detroit Tigers (26-37) vs. Chicago White Sox (37-26) - 7:05PM Est.

It's been a pretty crazy couple of weeks to be a sports fan in Chicago, what with Cedric Benson's never-ending quest to drive every type of vehicle ever created while drunk (next week: Cedric attempts to ride a unicycle while drinking an entire bottle of Grey Goose!), and of course, the fiasco that has been the Bulls off-season (no wonder Derrick Rose and Michael Beasley are spending so much time talking about how much better a player the other one is).

Thankfully for Chicagoans, there's baseball. It's not often in June that Chicago can call itself the home of two first place teams, but that's exactly what's happening right now as the Cubs have the best record in baseball and the White Sox are currently riding a seven-game win streak to move 6.5 games in front of the Twins in the AL Central.

Will anything be able to stop the runaway train that is Chicago baseball right now, or are we destined for an all-Chicago World Series?

Let's just start this off by saying that yes, there is something that can stop the runaway train that is Chicago baseball, and it's probably just including them in today's On Deck. I've noticed over the last few weeks that I have a knack for killing a team's win streak by just highlighting the streak in that day's On Deck. I just hope I don't get drunk with power.

Jose Contreras will be trying to put an end to the On Deck Curse tonight as the Sox begin a three-game set in Detroit against the struggling Tigers. While the White Sox offense has exploded in the last week, scoring 61 runs during their rampage, it's been the pitching staff that's largely responsible for the team's position in first place. Contreras has been a huge part of this.

The 89-year old Cuban hasn't lost a start since May 4th and looks for his sixth straight victory tonight. He's 8-7 with a 4.49 ERA in his career against Detroit, but hasn't been as successful against them this year as he has been against everybody else, going 0-1 with an 6.17 ERA in two starts.

Nate Robertson starts for the flailing Tigers, and he hasn't enjoyed pitching against Chicago much in his career, going 5-6 with a 5.07 ERA in 17 starts.

Chicago Cubs (40-24) vs. Atlanta Braves (32-32) - 8:05PM Est.

While the White Sox are currently the hottest team in Chicago right now, the Cubs would like to let you know that the Sox are just plagiarizing from their script. Before going on a west coast road trip (one that saw the Cubs go 4-3 in San Diego and Los Angeles) the Cubs had a nice 7-0 homestand of their own.

Tonight they return home and hope to keep the fires burning as they take on the Atlanta Braves in a quick three-game set before heading on the road again. Ted Lilly gets the start for the Cubs, and he's looking to continue the success he had in his last start against the Padres in which he allowed only two runs in seven innings. It probably won't hurt matters that Chipper Jones will probably be sitting out tonight's game, either.

In his career against Atlanta, Lilly is 1-2 with a 6.17 ERA in five starts.

Tom Glavine goes for the Braves and the last time he made a start in Wrigley Field, he was wearing a Mets uniform and he walked off the mound with the 300th victory of his career. This time he'll just be happy to help the Braves solve their road woes as this game marks the first of a 10-game, four-city road trip for Atlanta. The Braves are the proud owners of a MLB-worst 7-21 mark on the road this season, mind you.

Florida Marlins (34-29) vs. Philadelphia Phillies (39-26) - 7:10PM Est.

Speaking of hot teams, the Phillies haven't been half bad themselves lately, and look to put some distance between themselves and the Marlins in the NL East this week. The Phils took two of three from the Fish last week in Philadelphia to climb atop the NL East standings, and they wouldn't mind doing the same thing starting tonight.

Unfortunately for Philly, as hot as they've been, tonight's starter Brett Myers hasn't been following the script. Myers has lost six of his last seven decisions, including the Phillies latest loss against the Reds last week. Of course, that one win he's picked up came against the Marlins back on May 30th when he struck out a career-high eleven batters. Brett is 6-7 with a 4.89 ERA lifetime against Florida.

Ricky Nolasco starts for the Marlins, and he's responsible for Florida's lone victory against Philadelphia this season, and has won four of his last five decisions. That one loss was in his last start against the Braves in which he allowed the 400th homer of Chipper Jones' career.

He's 2-2 with a 5.40 ERA in six appearances against the Phils.

Everybody Else

• Red Sox vs. Orioles - 6:05PM
  
• Indians vs. Twins - 7:05PM
• Pirates vs. Nationals - 7:05PM
• Blue Jays vs. Mariners - 7:07PM
• Reds vs. Cardinals - 7:10PM
• Mets vs. Diamondbacks - 7:10PM
• Astros vs. Brewers - 8:05PM
• Royals vs. Rangers - 8:10PM
• Rockies vs. Giants - 9:05PM
• Angels vs. Rays - 10:05PM
• A's vs. Yankees - 10:05PM
• Padres vs. Dodgers - 10:05PM