Ugh, Nolasco (3-1, 6.38 ERA, 4.85 xFIP) vs. F-Bomb (1-3, 2.96 ERA, 3.19 xFIP)
I am....not so confident in this matchup other than the fact that Nolasco gets to pitch against an NL team. I don't know, maybe it'll help make him less 'ugh' and more 'meh'?
I haven't paid much attention, but it looks like Liriano is generally pitching pretty well this year, striking dudes out all over the place. He does have a .215 BABIP, though, so he might be getting a bit lucky on the balls that make it out into the field. Hopefully that is the case and that average heads north a bit tonight.
In addition to a mid-season interleague matchup, the Wolves have their annual "playoff" tonight (7:30 on ESPN) in which they participate in a selection of ping-pong balls to determine which crappy team gets the good picks in the draft. This event will set off a solid month of speculating just which incorrect pick Flip will make. Should be fun!
Thome Watch continues. Younger and wussier players around him continue to wilt in the August heat, but the Masher keeps on keeping on. The Tiggers have pretty much pwned the Twins for the last year, having won 12 out of their last 13 against our boys.