FanHouse

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

Kansas City Royals (35-43) vs. Colorado Rockies (32-46) - 8:10PM Est.

Remember earlier this season when the Diamondbacks started out the season something ridiculous like 20-1, Chase Utley had around 14 home runs in the first week of April, and everyone was saying that the National League had finally caught up to, and passed, the American League as the class of baseball?

You aren't hearing much about that anymore now that interleague play has started are you? That's because the AL is kicking the NL's butt so far this season. Only three teams in the American League have a losing record against the senior circuit right now (Toronto, Cleveland, Cincinnati) while only four National League teams (New York, Atlanta, Colorado, Cincinnati) have a winning record against the AL.

The biggest kick in the stomach for the National League? The Royals are 11-3 against them so far this season. The same Royals team that's 24-40 against it's own league. All of which means that if the Royals haven't contacted Bud Selig and asked about switching leagues yet, they should seriously consider it.

The Royals have used interleague play as a catalyst to actually get themselves back into the AL Central race, since they're now only 8 games behind the White Sox. They're not likely to get much closer, seeing as how interleague play ends soon, but it's a start, right?

Luke Hochevar looks to continue Kansas City's domination tonight, but he'll have to improve on his last start in which he allowed four runs and nine hits in 4.2 innings against the Giants. Luke is 1-0 with a 4.63 ERA in two interleague starts, and he should have extra motivation tonight as the Denver native takes on his hometown team for the first time in his career.

Aaron Cook starts for Colorado, and he just had a three game win streak snapped in his last effort after giving up six runs in seven innings against the Mets last week. If he wants to start a new one, I strongly suggest avoiding Jose Guillen at all costs right now. Guillen is hitting .380 with seven homers and 25 runs driven in over his last 26 games, and has hit .345 with nine homers and 32 RBI in his career against Colorado.

He's 0-2 against Cook, though, who is 3-5 with a 5.55 ERA against the American League in his career.

San Diego Padres (32-46) vs. Minnesota Twins (41-36) - 10:05PM Est.

The reason the Royals should get that call in about switching leagues as soon as possible? They don't want the Twins to beat them to it. The Twins have been enjoying interleague play just as much, as they've gone 10-3, and have won their last seven games thanks to it. All of which has helped the Twins pull to within 1.5 games of the Chicago White Sox.

I've no idea how they're doing it, but they are.

Glen Perkins will take the hill at PetCo tonight hoping to make it eight straight for Minnesota, and two in a row for himself. He's coming off a career-high eight inning performance against the Nationals in which he allowed only three runs. It will be his first start against the Padres.

The Padres have not enjoyed interleague play so much, as they're 3-10 and have lost seven of their last 8 games. Greg Maddux will look to put an end to it tonight, and he held Detroit to only a run in seven innings his last time out. Still, ever since picking up win #350 in his career back on May 10th, Mad Dog is 0-2 with a 2.70 ERA in the eight starts since.

Oakland Athletics (42-34) vs. Philadelphia Phillies (42-36) - 10:05PM Est.

Remember last week when the Phillies were still tearing the cover off the ball and it looked like they were making a serious threat to run away from the rest of the NL East? That feels like a loooong time ago for Phillies fans, as the team has now lost it's last six games and the offense has gone into a coma. During the six-game losing streak, the Phillies have only been able to plate 11 runs and hit two homers, which isn't exactly the production we'd grown used to seeing from this team.

They'll look to get their bats back on track tonight behind Kyle Kendrick and put some distance back between themselves and the Marlins. Kendrick needs that run support, and he's used to getting it. Kyle's had a 5.20 ERA in his last 12 starts, but since the Phils have averaged 9.1 runs a game behind him, they've managed to win ten of them.

Rookie Greg Smith goes for Oaktown, and after a rough stretch earlier in June, Greg has enjoyed National League lineups. In two starts against the NL, Smith has allowed only two runs in 10 innings of work. Of course, he hasn't had to face an NL lineup like the one he'll be facing tonight yet, and they're due to explode any minute now.

Everybody Else

• Braves vs. Brewers - 1:05PM
• Red Sox vs. DBacks - ESPN - 7:05PM
  
• Indians vs. Giants - 7:05PM
• Tigers vs. Cardinals - 7:05PM
• Pirates vs. Yankees - 7:05PM
• Blue Jays vs. Reds - 7:07PM
  
• Nats vs. Angels - 7:10PM
• Mets vs. Mariners - 7:10PM
• Marlins vs. Rays - 7:10PM
• Cubs vs. Orioles - 8:05PM
• Astros vs. Rangers - 8:05PM
• Dodgers vs. White Sox - 10:10PM