ESPN MLB

Originally Published: August 11, 2005

Patient A's have the edge

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By Buster Olney
ESPN The Magazine
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• 2:20 p.m. ET: Greg Maddux will be inducted into the Hall of Fame one day, first ballot. But at age 39, he is not having a good season -- at 8-9, he is in jeopardy of posting a losing record for the first time since 1987. He's allowed 162 hits, including 20 homers, in 148.2 innings, and has a 4.57 ERA. But hey, the guy has 313 career victories, and because he is facing Mark Mulder today, he will be part of The Best Pitching Matchup of the Day.

	Blanton

	Byrd

• 3:35 p.m. ET: The Big Series between the Angels and Athletics will come down to this game, with the Angels' Paul Byrd -- who does not have a good matchup here, because Oakland is patient and puts the ball in play -- against Joe Blanton, who just keeps getting better and better.

• 3:35 p.m. ET: Tom Glavine has struggled at times this year, and sometimes he's thrown well -- but what he has done consistently this season is keep the ball in the park. Glavine has allowed just 10 homers in 136 innings this season, among 172 hits, which is why we are climbing far out on a limb to pick The Most Likely Guy To Go Deep -- San Diego's Brian Giles, who is homerless in 25 career at-bats against Glavine. Call it a hunch. Glavine is going for career win No. 271, against the Padres' Brian Lawrence.

• 7:05 p.m. ET: Derrek Lee got the most publicity early in the year, but Albert Pujols and Andruw Jones might be the leading candidates for the Most Valuable Player Award. But we should not overlook the incredible season that Miguel Cabrera is having -- a .349 batting average, .409 on-base percentage, 26 homers and 83 RBI, and the guy is only 22 years old. If the Marlins are to make the playoffs, he'll be leading the charge. Today, Florida's Brian Moehler throws against Arizona's Brandon Webb.

	Hudson

	Schmidt

• 7:35 p.m. ET: With Atlanta leading the NL East by 6 games, a solid margin at this stage of the season, the most important thing for the Braves is to keep all their starting pitchers healthy -- and Tim Hudson, in particular. Since coming back from the disabled list, Hudson is 2-1 with a 2.51 ERA, and he'll face the Giants today, with Jason Schmidt working for San Francisco.

• 8:05 p.m. ET: Opposing batters are hitting just .208 against Andy Pettitte since the All-Star break, pretty remarkable for a pitcher who has mostly worked to create contact during his career. He'll be going for his 10th victory of the season, throwing against Ryan Drese and the Nationals.

Buster Olney is a senior writer for ESPN The Magazine. His book, "The Last Night of the Yankee Dynasty," is available in paperback and can be ordered through HarperCollins.com.