Thursday (9-22-05)
Rangers vs. Angels – Young vs. Santana – Young over his last five outings has an 0.68 ERA (2 runs over 26 1/3 innings). Young just simply needs to avoid Guerrero who has 4 homers in 15 at-bats against Young. Santana has a 15.75 ERA against Texas this year, but that was in Texas. I bring that up because of late; Santana has won his last 3 starts in Anaheim, but lost his last 3 starts on the road. What is it with a good home crowd? He has a 1.13 ERA at home in his last 3 starts, but an 11.77 ERA in his last 3 starts on the road. Ouch, can we play here in our Ballpark? Please? With that in mind, I think this is going to be a tougher game than what is billed on the surface. This one might be decided by the pen, and if that is the case, the Angels would have it. Score: 3-2.
D-Backs vs. Dodgers – Estes vs. Weaver – Estes, over his last 3 starts, hasn’t been all that sharp. He is 1-2 with a 7.80 ERA. Against the bad teams, though he has done well. He lost to the Cardinals by giving up 6 runs in 6 1/3 innings. He beat Detroit on 6/24 and also beat Colorado on 9/9. He has thrown 12 innings against the Dodgers this year and given up 8 runs. The Dodgers are hitting .311 against him (not good). He will need to avoid especially Jeff Kent, who is hitting .368 against him with 2 homers and 9 RBIs in 19 at bats. Weaver is really streaky. Looking at his last 6 games, he has won and lost to two teams (the same teams actually). He is either really good, or really bad. He’s had two starts against the D-Backs and is 1-1 with a 5.11 ERA totaling 12 1/3 innings and giving up a .244 average. Troy Glaus should sit the game out. He has a .069 average against Weaver. Chad Tracy would definitely do well, he has a .417 average against him, but only 1 RBI. It really boils down to how Weaver is going to do. Estes looks to be average, and most likely will give up 3 runs or so in 6 innings. Weaver, if he comes to play, will be unstoppable. If he leaves his pitching arm at home, well it could be ugly. He’s going to pitch a good 6 innings or more. He’s done it 9 out of his last 10 starts. I say that he will be off, though, basing off his consistency of late. He is due for a bad start. Score: Dodgers (surprised?) 8-6.
Friday (9-23-05)
Rangers vs. A’s – Rogers vs. Haren – I think I found what is wrong with Rogers. That would be Katagelophobia, Anthropophobia, and Topophobia. Wow, three phobias. The first is the fear of being ridiculed. The second is the fear of society. And the third is the fear of certain situations. One of them has to be it, right? Well, the Rangers have won the last 4 starts when Rogers pitches. Maybe a good sign? One of them was against the A’s, mind you. Interestingly enough, Rogers has also pitched higher than his current ERA over those starts, and walked away with 2 wins for himself. Haren has absolutely great over his last 10 starts, well with the exception of the 9/7 start and 8/17 start. Outside of those he has an 1.71 ERA. Notably, he has 4 starts this year against the Rangers, he is 2-1 with a 6.75 ERA. Rangers knock him with a .265 average. He only averages 5.2 innings per start this year. Rogers is averaging 6.1 innings. Tex and Sorry both knock him pretty good, but the Rangers seem to lack power on the road… oddly enough, but they both have 2 homers, Tex has 7 RBIs and Sorry has 5 in a combined 21 at bats. Impressive, indeed. So, what to call? Rangers are cold on the road, Rogers is cold period, but winning, mind you, and Haren has no real success against the Rangers hitters, not to mention how the Rangers seem to stink against their division. On a limb (for sure), I am going to go with Rogers and the Rangers. Score: 6-4.
Stars vs. Red Wings – Preseason still… Detroit was the best two years ago. Dallas was very respectable. (Yes, I am trying to research, but my sources are a little limited right now.) It has been about a year since the NHL has played, I don’t know if Detroit is any good. I am sure they are, though. I will go out on a limb and say a 2-2 tie.
Rangers vs. Angels – Young vs. Santana – Young over his last five outings has an 0.68 ERA (2 runs over 26 1/3 innings). Young just simply needs to avoid Guerrero who has 4 homers in 15 at-bats against Young. Santana has a 15.75 ERA against Texas this year, but that was in Texas. I bring that up because of late; Santana has won his last 3 starts in Anaheim, but lost his last 3 starts on the road. What is it with a good home crowd? He has a 1.13 ERA at home in his last 3 starts, but an 11.77 ERA in his last 3 starts on the road. Ouch, can we play here in our Ballpark? Please? With that in mind, I think this is going to be a tougher game than what is billed on the surface. This one might be decided by the pen, and if that is the case, the Angels would have it. Score: 3-2.
D-Backs vs. Dodgers – Estes vs. Weaver – Estes, over his last 3 starts, hasn’t been all that sharp. He is 1-2 with a 7.80 ERA. Against the bad teams, though he has done well. He lost to the Cardinals by giving up 6 runs in 6 1/3 innings. He beat Detroit on 6/24 and also beat Colorado on 9/9. He has thrown 12 innings against the Dodgers this year and given up 8 runs. The Dodgers are hitting .311 against him (not good). He will need to avoid especially Jeff Kent, who is hitting .368 against him with 2 homers and 9 RBIs in 19 at bats. Weaver is really streaky. Looking at his last 6 games, he has won and lost to two teams (the same teams actually). He is either really good, or really bad. He’s had two starts against the D-Backs and is 1-1 with a 5.11 ERA totaling 12 1/3 innings and giving up a .244 average. Troy Glaus should sit the game out. He has a .069 average against Weaver. Chad Tracy would definitely do well, he has a .417 average against him, but only 1 RBI. It really boils down to how Weaver is going to do. Estes looks to be average, and most likely will give up 3 runs or so in 6 innings. Weaver, if he comes to play, will be unstoppable. If he leaves his pitching arm at home, well it could be ugly. He’s going to pitch a good 6 innings or more. He’s done it 9 out of his last 10 starts. I say that he will be off, though, basing off his consistency of late. He is due for a bad start. Score: Dodgers (surprised?) 8-6.
Friday (9-23-05)
Rangers vs. A’s – Rogers vs. Haren – I think I found what is wrong with Rogers. That would be Katagelophobia, Anthropophobia, and Topophobia. Wow, three phobias. The first is the fear of being ridiculed. The second is the fear of society. And the third is the fear of certain situations. One of them has to be it, right? Well, the Rangers have won the last 4 starts when Rogers pitches. Maybe a good sign? One of them was against the A’s, mind you. Interestingly enough, Rogers has also pitched higher than his current ERA over those starts, and walked away with 2 wins for himself. Haren has absolutely great over his last 10 starts, well with the exception of the 9/7 start and 8/17 start. Outside of those he has an 1.71 ERA. Notably, he has 4 starts this year against the Rangers, he is 2-1 with a 6.75 ERA. Rangers knock him with a .265 average. He only averages 5.2 innings per start this year. Rogers is averaging 6.1 innings. Tex and Sorry both knock him pretty good, but the Rangers seem to lack power on the road… oddly enough, but they both have 2 homers, Tex has 7 RBIs and Sorry has 5 in a combined 21 at bats. Impressive, indeed. So, what to call? Rangers are cold on the road, Rogers is cold period, but winning, mind you, and Haren has no real success against the Rangers hitters, not to mention how the Rangers seem to stink against their division. On a limb (for sure), I am going to go with Rogers and the Rangers. Score: 6-4.
Stars vs. Red Wings – Preseason still… Detroit was the best two years ago. Dallas was very respectable. (Yes, I am trying to research, but my sources are a little limited right now.) It has been about a year since the NHL has played, I don’t know if Detroit is any good. I am sure they are, though. I will go out on a limb and say a 2-2 tie.
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