C.C. Sabathia, LH Brian Burres, LH (4-0, 3.38) (0-0, 1.35) CF G Sizemore 2B B Roberts LF J Michaels LF J Payton DH T Hafner SS M Tejada C V Martinez C R Hernandez 1B R Garko DH A Huff SS J Peralta 3B M Mora RF T Nixon RF N Markakis 3B C Blake 1B K Millar 2B J Barfield CF C Patterson
Well, let's see what Brian Burres is made of. The thing about our current situation is that I'd rather see Burres in the rotation than Jaret Wright, and even though I'm still not the biggest Guthrie fan -- and what worries me most is Leo Mazzone's hard-on for him -- I think I'd now rather see Guthrie, too. So are we losing out? Not so badly that we can't win with these guys. Bedard looked good last time, Cabrera is fairly reliable to do his thing, and Trachsel battles. Loewen's edgy walkfests may impress the hipsters, but I prefer my pitchers to throw strikes. Confoundit!
Burres has been good in relief this year, of course. He's had fantastic multi-inning outings. April 29 against the Indians, he threw four innings of no-hit ball, striking out six and walking three. April 23 against Oakland, three innings, three hits, three walks, four strikeouts. April 17, 3 1/3 pitched with two hits and two Ks. Not bad at all. Starting is a whole other round mound of rebound, obviously, but it's not so bad to just be optimistic.
Sabathia has been very good this year. 44 strikeouts against eight walks, and he's looking to become the second AL pitcher with five wins (Beckett has six). I don't care what hand he throws with, this is a tough matchup.
How many times does a game feature two cleanup-hitting catchers?
Let's go, O's! Make it three straight. Also, if anyone's interested, I will be on the SBN Sports Report tonight to talk about last night's fight and the fallout. There's a link on the right side under the SBN blogroll.