More interleague fun to take us through the rest of the week, with the exception of the Astros matching up with the Giants this time around. Sometimes these match-ups can be tough because the sample size of data is rather small, but we’ve got plenty to look at today for your daily fantasy baseball salary cap teams where the players have squared off a number of times before. Here are some of the games to check out…
Boston Red Sox at Miami Marlins (7:10pm ET)
Red Sox right-hander Clay Buchholz is just coming off the third complete-game shutout of his career and has given up just four runs over his last three starts, good for a 1.50 ERA. He’s actually seen a few Marlins in his day and Boston has to be encouraged when outfielder Austin Kearns has juts one double over half a dozen at-bats against him while John Buck is hitless against him. How he fares against a slugger like Giancarlo Stanton who has hit safely in six of his last seven games is another story. On the mound for the Marlins is veteran lefty Mark Buehrle who knows the Sox all too well from his days in Chicago. Unfortunately for him though, they hit him pretty well. Dustin Pedroia is batting .375 over 16 at-bats while David Ortiz has a .345 average with two home runs and eight doubles over 58 at-bats.
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Detroit Tigers at Chicago Cubs (8:05pm ET)
Right-hander Max Scherzer is looking to rebound from his last outing where he gave up five runs in just 4.1 innings and goes up against a Cubs team that is getting a bit of a boost lately. David DeJesus is batting .286 with a home run and a double over 14 at-bats and while Ian Stewart is only batting .222, he’s got a home run and a triple off of Scherzer. Journeyman lefty, Paul Maholm is on the hill for the Cubbies and is 0-3 over his last four starts. Miguel Cabrera is always a good choice, batting .300 off Maholm, but surprisingly, Prince Fielder is batting just .125 against him over 48 at-bats.
Arizona Diamondbacks at Texas Rangers (8:05pm ET)
Ian Kennedy takes on the Rangers after winning his last two starts with a miniscule 0.66 ERA. The Texas lineup is always formidable, but he’s held catcher Yorvit Torealba hitless in the time he’s faced him and Adrian Beltre is batting .333 but with no extra-base hits. For the Rangers, right-hander Colby Lewis is on the mound and he’s had some real nice success against a few of these Arizona hitters. As a matter of fact, Jason Kubel is only batting .100 with just a meaningless single in 10 at-bats while Aaron Hill is hitless in nine trips to the plat with five strikeouts.
Philadelphia Phillies at Minnesota Twins (8:10pm ET)
After four rock-solid starts, Phillies right-hander Kyle Kendrick went back to his old ways and coughed up five runs through 5.1 innings in his last start. It might not get easier for him as Josh Willlingham is batting .364 with a home run and a double over 11 at-bats against him while Ryan Doumit is batting .286 but with no extra-base hits. On the hill for the Twins is Nick Blackburn who has given up 13 runs over his last 3 starts (12 innings). But he actually does a good job keeping Juan Pierre (.158) and Ty Wigginton (.143) in check for most of the way.
San Diego Padres at Seattle Mariners (10:10pm ET)
This match-up provides some great data as these teams face each other quite often during interleague play and both pitchers have seen the opposition plenty. Left-hander Clayton Richard takes the mound for the Padres and while he’s held Ichiro Suzuki to a surprising .250 average, Miguel Olivo is batting .292 with three doubles in 24 at-bats. For the Mariners, it’s ace Felix Hernandez on the hill. He does an outstanding job holding Chase Headley to just one hit in 13 at-bats (.077) and Will Venable to a .167 average over 12 trips to the plate, but look out for Mark Kotsay who is batting .318 against him with four doubles in 22 at-bats. Also, while Carlos Quentin is only batting .222 against King Felix, he does have two home runs off him.
Houston Astros at San Francisco Giants (10:15pm ET)
Right-handed strikeout specialist Bud Norris takes on the Giants and migh tnot have to be concerned with the .364-hitting Melky Cabrera who missed his third straight start with a hamstring issue. Ryan Theriot, who has settled into the second base job nicely, is batting .286 against Norris over 14 plate appearances. Lefty Madison Bumgarner is on the hill for the Giants trying to contain J.D. Martinez, who is batting .286 against him with a home run and a double. Jose Altuve also has a home run off Bumgarner and is batting a stellar .571.
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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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