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MLB Weekend Preview: Yankees And Rangers Meet Again (And More!)

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There’s a good chance that you’ll set up six TVs this weekend, slap on some adult diapers so you don’t have to leave the couch, and watch every single baseball game this weekend just like the rest of us. But maybe you won’t have quite enough time for that. Maybe you’ll have to pick and choose which games you follow, you poor soul.

If that’s the case, here are three series with a good chance of being the best of the bunch:

Braves at Phillies

After signing Cliff Lee, the Phillies won the 2011 World Series. This put them in great position to win the NL East as well. But after Chase Utley’s injury in the spring, the Braves became a trendy pick to win the division.

The Phillies found your lack of faith disturbing. They’ve been aping the 2010 Giants so far with their pitching-heavy ways -- scoring runs isn’t a concern when you don’t allow any at all. When Utley comes back, and if Raul Ibanez stops hitting like Raoul Duke (or gets replaced), they might even start scoring runs too, which would be extra-scary.

The Braves have been hot, though, winning 10 of 13 and climbing right back into the NL East. Now if only the crazy-hot Marlins wouldn’t ruin the two-team narrative....

Probable pitchers:

Friday - Derek Lowe vs. Cliff Lee
Saturday - Jair Jurrjens vs. Roy Oswalt
Sunday - To be decided (Tommy Hanson on short rest, or Mike Minor?) vs. Cole Hamels

Yankees at Rangers

It’s a rematch of the 2010 ALDS and a meeting of two teams at or near the tops of their divisions, and it’s also your monthly reminder that momentum is one of the most ridiculous ideas in baseball. Because if a team can come back from a loss this bad to win a playoff series, momentum can’t mean that much.

But if you really must know, the Rangers don’t have a lot of momentum since starting the season 9-1. They're kind of in a serious funk, having dropped two of three to the Mariners in their last series.

Also, here’s a reason why baseball is the best sport:

 

 

Those two individuals are going head-to-head at the highest level of the same professional sport. I’m trying to figure out what those two look like they should be doing together. Buddy-cop movie? Eh. Lifetime movie about a bedridden chef and the high-school kid who helps him make a college application look better and learns a lot about life in the process? Now we’re talking. If I had to give the movie a title, I'd go with How Derek Holland Ended Up Frozen In Carbonite and Hanging Over Bartolo Colon's Fireplace, though that might contain spoilers.

Probable pitchers:

Friday - Ivan Nova vs. Matt Harrison
Saturday - Bartolo Colon vs. Derek Holland
Sunday - C.C. Sabathia vs. Alexi Ogando

 

Rockies at Giants

The symmetry between these divisional rivals has been interesting. They’ve had a little arrangement going for a few seasons now -- the Rockies come to San Francisco and not score, while the Giants go to Colorado and give up late-inning leads. There are signed contracts and everything. It’s going to get interesting, though, as the Giants broke the little detente in April, taking two of three in Coors Field.

The Rockies have been winning without a ton of contributions from Ubaldo Jimenez and Carlos Gonzalez, as Todd Helton and Jonathan Herrera have helped make up the difference. Just about every hitter in the Giants lineup has been cold, with the exception being Mike Fontenot, who has been the #3 hitter for the Giants lately. (You know how you've always wanted to blow people’s minds by bringing a video of Governor Schwarzenegger’s inauguration back in time to 1983? You could save gas by just going back to last week with that Fontenot sentence scrawled on a Post-it.)

Probable pitchers:

Friday - Ubaldo Jimenez vs. Matt Cain
Saturday - Jhoulys Chacin vs. Madison Bumgarner
Sunday - Jorge De La Rosa vs. Ryan Vogelsong

                                                                                                                                                                                                               

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