The Reds and Red Sox have something in common at the start of this week. They're both struggling as they get set to take on the West Division leaders in their respective leagues.
On several occasions this season, Cincinnati has had control of the NL Central within its grasp -- only to slip up and lose hold. The Reds are coming off three straight ugly losses to the Giants. Their offense suddenly went anemic, and their pitching was inconsistent.
The Red Sox seem to have hit a similar fate, posting a sub-.200 batting average in three games against the Mariners. Boston has been beset by the injury bug and is in need of some sort of spark to help turn its season around.
Both these teams are hanging on by a thread, and these early-week series could quickly determine whether they're pretenders or contenders the rest of the way.
| Monday: Kason Gabbard (0-2, 3.38) vs. Esteban Loaiza (7-7, 5.12) Loaiza (3-0, 1.77 ERA in his last five starts) is trying to complete the first unbeaten August of his major league career. He has had at least one defeat in this month every year he has pitched, but his career record in August is still a very solid 29-18. This will be his 317th career start, just the second for Gabbard. |
| Tuesday: Josh Beckett (14-8, 5.21) vs. Kirk Saarloos (6-6, 4.66) Beckett (1-3, 6.81 ERA in his last five starts) will match his 15-8 record of last season with one win, but how he has done it is a bit different this season. His ERA is almost two points higher than it was in 2005 (5.21 to 3.38), and he has allowed more than twice the number of home runs (32, 14), while making fewer starts (27, 29). Meanwhile, Saarloos is 3-0 in August with a 2.25 ERA, although one statistic sullies his victory total: Opponents are hitting .349 against him this month. |
| Wednesday: Curt Schilling (14-6, 3.95) vs. Barry Zito (14-8, 3.64) Schilling needs one strikeout to reach 3,000 for his career and become the 14th pitcher in the club. He is 2-0 with a 2.77 ERA in two starts against Oakland this season. The A's have just eight hits in 13 innings against him. Zito tries for his 15th win (and 101st of his career), which would be his most in a season since he won 23 in 2002. He has won four of his last five decisions but is just 4-5 with a 5.08 ERA career against Boston in the regular season. |
| • The Red Sox are 3-4 against Oakland this season after going 14-5 against the A's over the past two seasons. |
| • The A's are trying to win 20 games in August for the fifth time in the past six seasons. They might want to focus some of their energy on September, a month in which they are 23-33 over the past two seasons. |
| • The Red Sox (8-18 in August) have the worst record in baseball this month. The last full month in which the Red Sox failed to win at least 10 games was September 2001, when they went 6-15. |
| Monday: Chris Michalak (1-1, 4.76) vs Mark Hendrickson (5-14, 4.19) The Dodgers are sticking with Hendrickson and hoping he'll find his form in September. The lefty, who has gone just 1-6 since joining the Blue Crew, is 9-2 for his career in that month. Michalak might have a mediocre ERA (4.76), but that belies how he has pitched. Of the three starts he has made, two would be considered quality starts. Leadoff batters reaching base are what have given Michalak trouble. They're hitting .375 against him. Everyone else is batting just .234. |
| Tuesday: Eric Milton (8-7, 5.22) vs. Brad Penny (13-7, 3.95) Milton will surpass his 2005 victory total (eight) with one more win. The veteran lefty also holds a dubious distinction: Among the 51 active pitchers with at least 80 career wins, Milton has the highest ERA (5.01). Penny has struggled after an All-Star first half. He's just 3-5 with a 6.36 ERA since the Midsummer Classic. But he has won his past four decisions against the Reds, dating back to the start of the 2003 season. |
| Wednesday: Aaron Harang (13-9, 3.67) vs. Greg Maddux (11-11, 4.25) Maddux is 2-0 with a 2.32 ERA in five starts for the Dodgers, and he has a chance to do something he's never done in his career: beat a team five times in a season. He's won four times against a team in a season five times, including the 2006 Reds. The other teams he's beaten four times in a season are the 2002 Marlins, 1992 Cardinals, 1992 Mets and 1991 Mets. He's 4-0 against the Reds this year, including six no-hit innings in his last (rain-halted) start against them. |
| • The Reds are 0-3 against the Dodgers this season and have been outscored 18-7. The Reds have been all-or-nothing in those games -- hitting .180 with five home runs. |
| • The difference in the NL Central standings is really simple: The Reds are 8-12 against the NL West (after three straight losses to the Giants), and the Cardinals are 19-6 against those same opponents. That offsets any edge the Reds gained from being the best of the Central teams in divisional play. |
| • Dodger Stadium has been an unfriendly place for Ken Griffey Jr., whose career batting average there is .205. His career batting average against the Dodgers is .217. The only team he has a worse average against is the Phillies (.194). |
• The Braves routed the Nationals with 10-1 and 13-6 victories in the final two games of their weekend series. Atlanta has won 12 games by margins of at least seven runs this season, the most such victories for any NL team (one more than the Dodgers).
• The Tigers avoided a series sweep at Cleveland by posting their 82nd victory of the year, which clinched the club's first winning season since 1993. Only Milwaukee and Pittsburgh entered 2006 with longer streaks of consecutive non-winning seasons than Detroit; the Brewers and Pirates last posted winning records in 1992.
• The Marlins (4-3 over the Brewers) and Orioles (5-4 over the Devil Rays) had similar victories Sunday; both teams celebrated a walk-off, one-run win in which they scored in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings. Before Sunday, there had been only six major league games this season won in that fashion; each of the eight games was won by a different team.
• Bernie Williams and Derek Jeter each had a pair of homers for New York on Sunday. The last pair of AL teammates to homer twice in the same game did it against the Yankees -- Travis Hafner and Jhonny Peralta in the Indians' 19-1 win July 4.
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White Sox avoid a Twins sweep.
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| GOOD |
| Kenny Rogers delivered a gem as the Tigers beat the Indians 7-1 to avoid a sweep and end a four-game losing streak. Rogers (14-6) allowed one run and four hits in seven innings as he won his third straight start. He has given up only three runs in 19 innings during his win streak, and the Tigers are 20-7 overall in games started by Rogers this season. |
| BAD |
| Kyle Lohse struggled in the Reds' 8-0 loss to the Giants -- Cincinnati's fourth defeat in five games since climbing within percentage points of NL Central-leading St. Louis. Lohse (1-1) allowed five runs and 10 hits in five innings. The five runs matched the total he had given up in his other five appearances since being traded from Minnesota to the Reds on July 31. |
| UGLY |
| The Pirates assured themselves of a 14th consecutive non-winning season with a 13-1 loss to the Astros -- their 81st loss. With one more loss, they will be two losing seasons away from tying the Phillies' major league record of 16 in a row from 1933 to 1948. |
| Astros CF Willy Taveras extended his hitting streak to 30 games with a single to start the game against Pittsburgh. He is 45-of-129 (.349) during the streak, getting hits in his first at-bat 14 times. Taveras' streak is the longest in team history and the second-longest in the NL this season behind Chase Utley's 35-game run for the Phillies. |
AP Photo/George Nikitin The Marlins beat the Brewers 4-3 for their seventh straight victory. |
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"I tell you what, that little kid has a live ball. He's just like Matt Cain -- throws hard, got a good curveball. ... He's got a bright future ahead of him."
-- D-Backs 2B Orlando Hudson on Dodgers RHP Chad Billingsley, who pitched seven strong innings to beat Arizona and improve to 4-0 in his past six starts
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| NEWS AND NOTES |
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• Manager Dusty Baker said he "sometimes" feels he has a future with the Cubs, and made it clear that sometimes he does not. Baker is in the final year of a four-year contract, and GM Jim Hendry has said only that his manager is secure for the rest of a disappointing season. "You put yourself in my position, what would your answer be?" Baker asked reporters. "It's not only Jim, it's the whole picture. Just period."
• Manny Ramirez (knee) was out of Boston's starting lineup for the third time in four games as the Red Sox closed out their series against the Mariners with a 6-3 loss. Manager Terry Francona also said that LHP Jon Lester would not make his scheduled start Monday night in Oakland and instead would be sent back to Boston for further examination of his sore back. • The Phillies acquired Jeff Conine from the Orioles for cash and a player to be determined. The deal provides Philadelphia with a solid right-handed bat and veteran leadership in its drive to earn a wild-card berth. |
• Cubs at Pirates, 7:05 ET: A pair of 24-year-olds square off in this NL Central matchup. Angel Guzman (0-3, 5.84) makes his seventh start of the season and is 0-2 with a 10.80 ERA on the road. Opponents are hitting .309 off Ian Snell (11-8, 4.58) at PNC Park, where he has gone 5-6 with a 5.60 ERA.
• Padres at Diamondbacks, 9:40 ET: Woody Williams (7-4, 3.60) has been lights-out recently. He is 3-0 with a 2.49 ERA in his past three starts. Brandon Webb (13-5, 2.99) takes his third shot at his 14th victory. He ranks second in the NL in win percentage (.722) but is winless since Aug. 12.
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• Angels at Mariners, 10:05 ET: 
- Rumors: Comeback kids and FA updates
- Olney: Red Sox have MLB's best rotation
- Law: Top organizations | Prospect rankings
- Arangure: Francisco Liriano's big winter
