The weather this weekend is supposed to be spectacular -- temps in the low 80's, unlimited sunshine, and if there's any wind at all, it'll be light and blowing in. A perfect weekend for baseball!
Today is Oakland A's reunion day, with Athletics exiles Rich Harden and Joe Blanton facing each other for the first time. For the A's fan's take on this, see this FanShot at Athletics Nation. (And note, this was a perfect use of the FanShot -- not long enough for a FanPost, but an interesting topic.)
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Reminder, these stats are Cubs-only. For Harden's full-season stats, see the pitcher box above.
And, the above numbers are Blanton's with the Phillies only -- for his complete line, see the pitcher box.
Rich Harden has had much more success since joining the NL (4-1, 1.47 in 8 starts) from Oakland than has Joe Blanton. Blanton has been a little better (1-0, 4.03 in 7 starts) with the Phillies than he was in Oakland (5-12, 4.96). But, he has allowed six homers in 38 innings in the NL. He has never faced the Cubs, but the three current Cubs he faced in the AL have all hit him well -- Mark DeRosa (3-for-10, 2 doubles), Alfonso Soriano (4-for-9, a double, a triple), and Reed Johnson (5-for-10, 2 doubles, a HR).
Rich Harden faced the Phillies in interleague play on June 26 in Oakland. He shut them out for eight innings, allowing two singles (both to Shane Victorino), one walk, and striking out eleven. That game, like today's, was a day game, so you can't simply credit lower nighttime visibility for all the K's. The Phillies, though power-laden, also have guys (Ryan Howard in particular) who can be struck out. I look for Harden to continue his dominance.
Today's game is on a pair of CSN's -- according to my Comcast list of EI games, there's only one listing, so who knows which one you'll get. Also see the MLB.com Mediacenter.
Baseball-reference.com game preview
Once again, a reminder that you can find the overflow comment threads, including the first pitch thread, on the right sidebar of both the front page and any interior page in the box headed "RECENT STORIES IN GAME THREADS". Today's first pitch thread posts at 1:15 pm CT, and the overflow comment threads will post at 2:15 pm, 3:15 pm and 4 pm CT.
Discuss amongst yourselves.