28 May 2009

Plenty of excitement while I was away having fun -- my friend Ian Gray welcomed me back to the States by telling me the Braves had swept the Jays (he even told me Kawakami outdueled Roy Halladay, but I'm pretty sure I was just jetlagged and delirious). I had virtually no news of any kind while I was gone. Not that that stops me. I'm a blogger, after all.

Kristi did yeoman's work keeping the site alive, and I find that almost nothing's changed: we're 5-5 in our last 10 games and EXACTLY .500. That's actually better than it should be, considering that we've given up 10 more runs than we've scored, and Jeff Francoeur is still on the team. (Though not for long, heaven willing.)

There are only 5 games going on tonight, and we pretty clearly have the marquee matchup: Derek Lowe vs. Dan Haren. Haren's been having a sensational year, with an ERA a run lower than Lowe's, but he's given up 11 earned runs in his last 20 innings -- including 4 homers in his last start -- and if there were ever a time to catch him off guard, now would be as good as any. He's only faced us once in the last 3 years, an August start last year in which he gave up 10 hits and 6 earned in 5 1/3. Lowe's working on a 14-inning scoreless streak against the Diamondbacks, against whom he was 3-1 with a 2.05 ERA last year in a cross-division rivalry.

I like our chances, but the top of the lineup will have to get it done. Once we get into the 6-7-8 doldrums, it starts to look bleak.

Good to see you all again!

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