Matt Garza, RH (5-7, 3.69/1.54) v. Daniel Cabrera, RH (9-18, 5.55/1.54)
I have no problem saying that Garza was my favorite pitching prospect in all of baseball when he was with the Twins, and him being part of the Big Three in Tampa Bay scares the bejesus out of me. Those guys could dominate the division for a long, long time. And I think Garza has the goods to be THE ace of the bunch.
This is Cabrera's fifth full year as part of the Orioles rotation. He's just a total pain, and I expect nothing anymore. I don't expect him to ever be any good. Why bother? His only consistency is being a big letdown. If you want to be like our own Dr. Enloe and continue to go insane during every Cabrera start, be my guest.
How about an over/under on walks for Cabrera starts? We'll do five -- make it 5.5.
RAYS STARTING LINEUP
- Akinori Iwamura, 2B
- Carl Crawford, LF
- Carlos Pena, 1B
- B.J. Upton, CF
- Cliff Floyd, DH
- Willie Aybar, 3B
- Dioner Navarro, C
- Nathan Haynes, RF
- Jason Bartlett, SS
ORIOLES STARTING LINEUP
- Brian Roberts, 2B
- Melvin Mora, 3B
- Nick Markakis, RF
- Kevin Millar, 1B
- Aubrey Huff, DH
- Luke Scott, LF
- Ramon Hernandez, C
- Adam Jones, CF
- Luis Hernandez, SS
FUN STATS
- Daniel Cabrera is 6-0, 3.04/1.38 in 11 career starts against the Rays.
- Aubrey Huff hit 15 home runs in 2007; seven of them came against Tampa Bay (.365/.429/.762).
- Carlos Pena hit .316/.446/.667 with six homers against the Birds in 2007.
- Veteran Rays reliever Troy Percival historically stinks against the O's: 5.86 ERA and 1.51 WHIP in 43 career innings against Baltimore.