Daniel Cabrera, RH (0-0, 9.00/2.00) v. Jason Hammel, RH (0-1, 6.00/1.50)

Cabrera's pitched 10 innings in two starts, and walked nine batters. He's also given up 10 earned runs, 11 hits, and four homers. Yup. Any day now...

Game time is 7:10 on MASN. I'm going to duck out around 9 to catch Dawson-Johnson on Showtime, then watch the HBO welterweight card at 10. It's been a few weeks since there's been any notable boxing on in the States; I'm jonesing, and Daniel Cabrera starts tend to be pretty skippable.

Hammel lost a quality start in the sixth inning of his lone start this year, at New York. He's never been particularly good at pitching in the big leagues.

Tonight will be the Major League debut of Tampa Bay third baseman Evan Longoria, one of the best prospects in baseball. Willie Aybar went onto the DL. The Rays have been hit extremely hard by injuries, but Longoria is probably already a better player than Aybar. 

FUN STATS, ETC. 

• Cabrera is 3-0 in five career starts at Tropicana Field. Over 29 1/3 in St. Pete, he's walked 24 and struck out 27, but Tampa Bay batters have hit a paltry .200 against them at their home park. Cabrera is 6-0 lifetime against the Rays despite that crap start last week.
• Carlos Pena is 5-for-13 with two homers and four walks against Cabrera, with a robust 1.423 OPS.
• Longoria hit .307/.403/.528 at Double-A last year (381 AB) and .269/.398/.490 at Triple-A (104 AB).
• Nick Markakis still has zero home runs. What the F, yo? 

ORIOLES STARTING LINEUP 

B Roberts, 2B          .278/.395    1    5

M Mora, 3B             .243/.282    2    5

N Markakis, RF         .333/.488    0    2

K Millar, 1B           .250/.357    1    4

A Huff, DH             .270/.357    2   11

L Scott, LF            .429/.515    1    6

R Hernandez, C         .156/.171    1    5

L Hernandez, SS        .278/.348    0    3

 

RAYS STARTING LINEUP

A Iwamura, 2B          .250/.340    0    1

C Crawford, LF         .222/.255    0    2

C Pena, 1B             .216/.370    5   12

B Upton, CF            .270/.386    0    8

E Hinske, DH           .304/.407    2    4

E Longoria, 3B         ----/----    0    0

N Haynes, RF           .278/.278    0    0

S Riggans, C           .227/.261    1    5

E Johnson, SS          .143/.143    0    0