Baseball Tonight 8-23-06

Here are three games I'd rather watch than my White Sox right now.

• Baltimore Orioles (56-69 4th AL East Rodrigo Lopez 9-12 6.03) vs. Minnesota Twins (72-52 3rd AL Central Matt Garza 0-2 11.74)-The Twins weren't able to take advantage of the White Sox loss last night, getting beat by the Orioles 6-1. Tonight they start 22-year-old Matt Garza, Liriano's replacement, who hasn't exactly been good in his first two starts. In fact, he's been bad. Though I don't expect Nick Markakis to hit three more home runs, I'm gonna go ahead and say he gets one. Also, Rodrigo Lopez has been a much better pitcher in August than he had been all season. I'm taking the Orioles tonight, not so much cuz I believe in them, but more cuz I need them to win. (7:o5PM Est.)
• New York Mets (76-48 1st NL East Steve Trachsel 12-5 4.79) vs. St. Louis Cardinals (66-58 1st NL Central Mark Mulder 6-5 6.09)-With the Cardinals' record, the only other division in baseball that they could play in and still hold first place is the NL West. In fact, their 66-58 record would be good for only 4th in the AL East and Central, and third in the AL West. Which is to say, the Cardinals are just an average team. In fact, so average that they are only one game ahead of the Reds (the Reds and Astros are tied 2-2 in the 7th inning as I type this). Tonight, Mark Mulder returns from the DL to make his first start since getting annihilated by the Chicago White Sox for 9 runs in 2.1 IP, the game the Cardinals would lose 20-6. Meanwhile, the Mets are so bored with their divisional lead that last night they decided to spot the Cardinals a 7-1 lead before they started playing. Carlos Beltran would hit a walk off home run in the 9th to give the Mets an 8-7 win. The Mets win again tonight, but not in such a dramatic fashion. (7:10PM Est.)
• Seattle Mariners (57-68 4th AL West Felix Hernandez 10-11 4.50) vs. New York Yankees (75-49 1st AL East Chien-Ming Wang 14-5 3.86)-Last night's other walk off was when Adrian Beltre led off the 9th inning with a solo shot to give the Mariners a 6-5 victory, the first in their last 11 games. Tonight, though, the Yankees start Wang, and something tells me that a pitcher with a sinker as nice as his, pitching in cavernous Safeco Field can only help the Yankees. Especially when the Yankees face Hernandez, who's been hit around pretty good his last two starts. Yankees win....THE Yankees win. (10:05PM Est.)

Yesterday: 3-0 (W-Blue Jays Phillies Angels)

Season: 55-47