Catching up

I've been a little behind these last few days and won't even try to catch up. How's that for persistence?

Here's what you missed over the last few days:

- Mariano Rivera is struggling big time.

- Shawn Hill returned for the Nationals, and it was like he'd never left.

- Speaking of Hill - he, Erik Bedard of the Orioles, and Chris Young of the Padres all need to blow up their bullpens.

- Speaking of Chris Young, he's having a Cy Young season with a 1.93 ERA, but he still only has a 9-4 record.

The big baseball news of the week was about the draftee signings or non-signings, but I'll leave analysis of that to people who follow college baseball far more closely than I do.

And because it's too important to simply be another bullet point: Phil Rizzuto passed away this week at the age of 89. All the best to his family and friends.

As for tonight...

It's a return match-up from Game 2 of last year's ALDS when RHP Mike Mussina (8-7, 4.50 ERA) takes on reigning AL Rookie of the Year RHP Justin Verlander (12-4, 3.58 ERA) and the Tigers. This will be the first meeting of these two clubs since Spring Training, and the first meaningful game between them since the 2006 postseason. Moose is coming off of a quality outing against the Indians on August 11th. He lasted 7.2 innings, tying a season-high on June 13th against the Diamondbacks, and allowed two earned runs on eight hits with zero walks and six strikeouts. While his pitching has been overshadowed by the strength of the offense of late, Mussina has been far more consistent than he was earlier in the year. He hasn't given up more than three runs since July 20th against the Devil Rays.

Verlander is also coming off of a win on August 11th, his against the Oakland A's. He lasted six innings and allowed two earned runs on seven hits while walking three and striking out seven. It was Verlander's first win since July 15th at Seattle. While still keeping his team in the game, Verlander has not been as lights-out as he was earlier in the season. It should be interesting to see if he rises to the occasion of Yankee Stadium tonight.

As a side-bar, it should be fun to hear the Stadium's reaction to Gary Sheffield's first at-bat since being traded in the off-season. I'd imagine he probably won't get a standing-O. Call it a hunch.

RHP Brian Lawrence (1-0, 4.09 ERA) and the Mets look to take another one from the Pirates tonight, this time against RHP Tony Armas (2-3, 6.13 ERA). Lawrence is coming off of a decent start against the Marlins on August 10th. He took the no decision, going six innings and allowing two earned runs on eight hits with three walks and six strikeouts. This will be Lawrence's third start in the majors this season. He has not yet faced the Pirates.

Tony Armas is coming off of a win at San Francisco on August 11th. He lasted six innings and allowed three runs on six hits (including one homerun), one walk, and two strikeouts. His two appearances this season against the Mets, on July 24th and 25th, were in relief. In those outings, Armas worked a total of 3.2 innings and allowed just one hit, no walks, and struck out two.

RHP Joel Hanrahan (2-0, 2.76 ERA) and the Nats look to make it two in a row against LHP Cole Hamels (13-5, 3.64 ERA) and the Phillies. Hanrahan has been very good for the Nationals since being called up from the minors. In his last start at San Francisco, Hanranhan went 5.1 innings and allowed just one earned run on seven hits and four walks with two strikeouts. This will be his first time facing the Phillies.

Cole Hamels is coming off of a win against the Braves on August 10th. He lasted seven innings and allowed four earned runs on five hits (including one homerun) and two walks with two strikeouts. In two starts against the Nationals this season, Hamels is 0-1. He took a no decision in his last start against the Nats on July 25th, going seven innings and allowing just two earned runs, including a solo homer by Ronnie Belliard. The Phillies went on to win that game in the bottom of the 14th on a two-run homer by Ryan Howard.

RHP Clay Hensley (1-3, 6.18 ERA) makes his first major league appearance since #755 against RHP Elmer Dessens (1-1, 6.60 ERA) and the Rockies. In that outing against the Giants, Hensley went 4.2 innngs and allowed two runs on three hits (including that one homerun) with five walks and three strikeouts. Control is something Bud Black and the rest of the San Diego staff will be looking to see out of Hensley tonight. His last start against Colorado was back on April 21st. He won that night, allowing two runs on ten hits and three walks with one strikeout over six innings.

Dessens is making his first major league appearance May 18th, when he worked two innings of scoreless relief for the Brewers. I'll be honest, I have no idea when Dessens was traded/signed by the Rockies, and I have no idea why he's going to be making this start tonight. But...hey, at least I got his name right? I hope?

News: This isn't really recent news, but just to keep track - Edwar Ramirez and Sean Henn, both of whom pitched yesterday for the Yankees, are up. Jeff Karstens and Jim Brower are down. Pitcher Jose Veras (remember him?) has finished rehabbing from injury and is now with AAA-Scranton. Infielder Chris Basak (remember him??) and outfielder Kevin Reese (darn it, I liked that guy) were designated for assignment. ... More not recent news, Marlon Anderson was reinstated from the bereavement list for the Mets, and David Newhan was sent down. ... Similarly, Doug Brocail was reinstated from the bereavement list for San Diego. Mike Thompson was sent down.

Also, the song and dance continues as it was announced Jason Giambi will not be punished by Major League Baseball following that whole USA Today incident earlier in the year. Giambi agreed to cooperate with the Mitchell investigation, he'll be donating $100,000 to charity, and so it goes.