While there are a number of marquee pitching match-ups from which to choose, today might be the day to hunt down your sleepers and bargain shop for your daily fantasy baseball salary cap teams. Check out the data, find your best lefty/righty matchups and always be sure to monitor the ballparks. Here’s a look at a number of the games with several players of interest.
Cleveland Indians at Detroit Tigers (1:05pm ET)
Derek Lowe brings his sinkerball magic to Motown in this match-up of division rivals. He doesn’t really get much in the way of strikeouts, but he’s got a 3.06 ERA and has limited the opposition to two runs or less in six of his last seven outings. He also does a very good job of containing Detroit’s biggest bats as Miguel Cabrera is batting just .174 with a home run over 23 at-bats and Prince Fielder, just .217 with no extra-base hits. On the mound for the Tigers will be rookie southpaw Casey Crosby who got lit up by the Yankees in his first start. The Tribe have a lot of lefties in the lineup which works well for Crosby, but he’ll still have to contend with switch-hitter Asdrubal Cabrera who is batting .333 with one home run over 66 at-bats against left-handed pitching this year.
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Los Angeles Dodgers at Philadelphia Phillies (1:05pm ET)
Veteran right-hander Aaron Harang is 2-0 with a 3.91 ERA over his last four starts against the Phillies but this one in hitter-friendly Citizen’s Bank Park could be trouble if he can’t contain the likes of Hunter Pence who is batting .321 with a double over 28 at-bats or Shane Victorino who is hitting .318 with three doubles and a triple. Left Cole Hamels is on the mound for the Phillies and he does a great job containing the Dodgers, especially with Matt Kemp out of the lineup. Andre Ethier is batting just .214 while James Loney is only hitting .231 but does have a home run off the southpaw.
Chicago Cubs at Milwaukee Brewers (2:10pm ET)
Matt Garza takes the mound against the Brewers, and save for Nyjer Morgan who is batting an unbelievable .467 over 16 plate appearances, he does a great job containing a lot of these Milwaukee boys. Ryan Braun has a home run, but is batting just .231 against Garza while Rickie Weeks is sitting on a lowly .143 mark with no extra-base hits over 14 at-bats. On the hill for the Brewers is veteran lefty Randy Wolf who shut out these Cubs for six innings back in early May. He does have some difficulties with Starlin Castro though, as the Chicago shortstop is batting .381 with a home run and two doubles over 21 at-bats. Alfonso Soriano has two home run in 37 at bats against Wolf, but is batting just .243.
Texas Rangers at Oakland A’s (3:35pm ET)
A’s right-hander Brandon McCarthy gave up four runs in 5.1 innings to the Rangers right before he hit the DL, so now that he’s healthy, he’s looking for better results. Of course, he’ll have to deal with the fact that Adrian Beltre is batting .429 with two home runs and three doubles in 28 at-bats against him. Also, Michael Young is hitting .316 against McCarthy and has a home run, a double and a triple in 22 trips to the plate. On the hill for Texas is Yu Darvish who allowed just one run over 7.2 innings the last time he faced the A’s. Jemile Weeks is the only one who connected for an extra-base hit against him but only hitting .224 against right-handers.
San Francisco Giants at San Diego Padres (3:35pm ET)
Right-hander Matt Cain is on the hill for the Giants in this divisional match-up and the big battle will be him against Carlos Quentin who is batting .533 with four home runs over his last 15 at-bats. Against Cain though, he is hitting just .133 with one home run through 15 at-bats. Catcher Nick Hundley is batting just .214 over 14 at-bats, but watch out for Cameron Maybin who may be struggling with his average, but is batting .313 with a double and a triple over 16 at-bats. On the mound for the Padres is right-hander Edinson Volquez who has a 9.45 ERA over his last two starts against the Giants. He does have a 3.17 ERA at home this season and is holding righties to a .219 average but he’ll have to be on his game to best the likes of Angel Pagan who is batting .391 over his last 23 at -bats and Ryan Theriot who is hitting .500 with two doubles and two stolen bases over his last 22 trips to the plate.
Tampa Bay Rays at New York Yankees (7:05pm ET)
Plenty of history between these two clubs and Rays lefty David Price is right there in the middle of it. He’s had mixed results over the last few years actually. He holds Curtis Granderson to a .211 average but coughed up three home runs. Derek Jeter is batting .295 with a pair of long balls, and while Mark Teixeira is batting just .225 over 40 at-bats, he too has a pair of home runs. On the hill for the Yankees will be lefty ace CC Sabathia who also has seen mixed results. He holds Carlos Pena to a .143 average but has allowed three home runs while Sean Rodriguez is batting a robust .390 with a homer through 28 trips to the plate.
Baltimore Orioles at Boston Red Sox (7:10pm ET)
Brian Matusz has a 2.87 ERA with 28 strikeouts over his last five starts which includes 6.1 innings of one-run ball against these same Red Sox. Davis Ortiz is 1-for-13 (.077) with 10 strikeouts against Matusz while Dustin Pedroia is batting just .200 with no extra-base hits. For Boston, Clay Buchholz is looking to continue his recent success as he’s thrown a pair of quality starts in his last two outings. However, it was three outings ago that he coughed up four runs to these orioles in just 5.1 innings. Matt Wieters is batting .353 with two doubles against him and Adam Jones is batting .267 with a home run and a double over 15 at-bats.
Pittsburgh Pirates at Cincinnati Reds (7:10pm ET)
The Pirates are sending Kevin Correia to the mound to try and contain the Reds offense, and while he is holding Jay Bruce to a .133 average over 15 at-bats, Brandon Phillips is hitting .292 with two home runs over his last 24 at-bats against Correia. Also watch for Joey Votto who may be hitting just .250 but has a pair of home runs over 20 at-bats against the right-hander. On the hill for the Reds will be Mike Leake who has a 2.19 ERA with 22 strikeouts over his last four starts. He does have some difficulty with a few of these Pirates though as Neil Walker is batting .375 with a home run over 16 at-bats while Jose Tabata is batting a strong .417 with a double and a triple over 12 trips to the plate.
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Howard Bender has been covering fantasy sports for over ten years on a variety of web sites, including his own, The Fantasy Baseball Buzz. You can follow him on Twitter @rotobuzzguy or you can email him at rotobuzzguy@gmail.com.
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