Interleague games going down on American League soil:

Houston Astros @ Detroit Tigers
A. Pettitte (6-8, 5.75) vs. J. Verlander (9-4, 3.39)
The Tigers beat just keeps on pumping out wins, going 9-1 in the last 10 and basically eating N.L. teams alive.  Rookie pitcher, Justin Verlander, looks to get his tenth victory, which would be impressive at this juncture of the season.  Andy Pettitte hopes to right his ship, especially with his old buddy, and I mean old, Roger Clemens back in the Astros fold.  He looked horrible his first start since the Rocket’s return, but it was against the White Sox.  That’s that other team chasing the Tigers for the best record in baseball.

Atlanta Braves @ New York Yankees
J. Smoltz (4-5, 3.89) vs. C. Wang (8-3, 4.14)
Could John Smoltz’s start in Yankee Stadium this afternoon be a prelude of things to come?  There are rumors that the Yankees are interested in the 39 year old righty.  The Braves have looked bad this season and a trade could very well happen, especially since Smoltz has stated he would go in a trade if it would improve the Braves.  How’s that loyalty?

Los Angeles Dodgers @ Minnesota Twins
O. Pérez (4-2, 6.33) vs. J. Santana (8-4, 2.75)
Johan Santana is the truth.  He goes for his third straight win, which would be against all N.L. opponents as well.  Santana is unhittable in June with a .172 BAA and a very low 0.67 WHIP.  And read these numbers for the month: In 36.0 innings pitched, Santana has struck out 35 batters and walked only two.  That’s a 17.5 K/BB rate!  Have pity on the Dodgers’ hitters now.

Philadelphia Phillies @ Baltimore Orioles
C. Hamels (1-3, 4.41) vs. E. Bedard (7-6, 5.09)
Thanks to heavy rains in the Philly area, this is the day game of a day-night doubleheader.  The Phillies’ ace, Brett Myers, announced that he was taking a leave of absence and will return after the All Star break.  As my friend, Brian said - the wheels are starting to fall off.  Unless the Phillies can win with nothing but offense, and that really doesn’t happen, the pitching staff will need to step up BIG TIME to keep the Phillies alive behind the N.L. East leading New York Mets.  Can a rookie (Cole Hamels) lead the way?  Don’t count on it.

Philadelphia Phillies @ Baltimore Orioles
S. Mathieson (0-1, 4.22) vs. K. Benson (8-5, 4.06)
Kris Benson has been the only consistently good pitcher for the Orioles and gets to face a team he did not have much success against last season when Benson was with the Mets.  The Phillies slapped Benson around to the tune of a .311 BA in two games and owned a 5.06 ERA and 1.59 WHIP.

New York Mets @ Boston Red Sox
P. Martínez (7-3, 3.01) vs. J. Beckett (9-3, 4.84)
Here is the pitching matchup du jour.  Both are power pitching righties with plus stuff that can make batters look absolutely silly.  Both pitchers are on pace for very good seasons and this very well could be a preview of a World Series matchup.  Martinez makes his first ever start against his former team in a town that loved him.  It was interesting that he was loudly cheered last night by Red Sox Nation, but it probably shouldn’t be considering how well Martinez played all those years, giving the Boston faithful many moments to ecstatic about.  However, when he takes the mound tonight, I’d expect him to get a few more boos since he’ll actually be competing and not simply watching in the dugout.  Josh Beckett had good outings the last two times out getting two wins, 13 K’s vs. four walks in 14.0 innings pitched.  You best believe that Fenway will be rocking tonight.

Washington Nationals @ Toronto Blue Jays
S. Hill (1-2, 4.26) vs. T. Lilly (7-7, 4.15)
Ted Lilly has won two straight games and has looked good in those outings.  Lilly is able to make batters miss - 15 K’s in 12.0 innings pitched in the aforementioned two previous outings.  However, Lilly is as inconsistent as they come, performing like the stock market, going up and down.

Colorado Rockies @ Los Angeles Angels
J. Francis (5-7, 4.37) vs. E. Santana (8-3, 4.03)
Jeff Francis and Ervin Santana are two of the better young pitchers in the game today.  In fact, Santana is so good, he could actually be traded to bring in a slugger.  If Francis was ever traded away from pitching half his games in Coors Field, you’d think he’d do better.  However, he produces better in Coors… wierd.

That’s all I got.  Enjoy the games!