Justin Duchsherer has fallen back down to earth after one of the best starts of any starting pitcher in baseball. Oakland’s offense has been just awful since the All-Star break. They got completely crushed by Chicago yesterday, draining their bullpen in the process. Nick Blackburn has been lights out at home for Minnesota. He has given up 1 earned run or less in 5 out of his last 7 home starts and should have absolutely no problem shutting down Oakland who has to travel to Minnesota after a home series. They have scored 2 runs or less in 6 out of their last 8 games, and I don’t expect them to have much success today. Minnesota’s offense has been tremendous at home too. They have scored 4 runs or more in all of their last 10 games and hit over .350 as a team in their series against Seattle. Look for Minnesota to get an easy win.

2 out of the first 3 games of this series have gone under the total, and the only game that went over the total should have been under if not for some 9th inning garbage runs. John Maine looked good against Washington in his first start back from injury. Washington was only able to get 1 hit against him in 5 innings. Pittsburgh really struggles against decent right handers, getting shut down routinely. Meanwhile, Paul Maholm has been one of the best pitchers in the National League over the last 2 months. He has allowed only 8 runs over his last 4 home starts. He has shut down everyone at home recently, including American League teams such as the New York Yankees and Toronto. He goes deep into games as well, routinely going into the 8th inning or beyond, so Pittsburgh’s awful bullpen won’t have a chance to ruin the UNDER. Look for a very low scoring game.

This game features a tremendous pitching match-up between two outstanding young pitchers in Jeremy Guthrie and Jon Lester. Both pitchers have also had a lot of success against each team this season in multiple starts. These teams have taken advantage of some awful starting pitching recently to put up some huge offensive numbers. I feel that each team will be very sluggish in this game, as neither team has faced quality starters anywhere near these two starting pitchers tonight. Guthrie and Lester have also gone very deep in almost every outing, going into the 7th inning or longer. Look for a low scoring pitchers duel.

Detroit appears to have packed things in for the season after their recent slump. The Orioles bats absolutely crushed them over their recent series. They were forced to extensively use their bullpen because Zach Minor had an extremely short outing. Texas completely hammered Kenny Rogers earlier in the season, and this potent line-up is due for a breakout performance after struggling against Boston and Tampa Bay. Don’t look for a long outing out of Rogers in the heat of Texas, and the Rangers are going to hammer the awful Tigers bullpen. Texas starter Scott Feldman got completely rocked by Boston in his last start, giving up 12 runs, 6 earned, in only 2.2 innings. However, he has been decent at home this season, giving up only 10 earned runs in his last 3 starts at home. Overall, I don’t feel that Detroit’s hitters are very motivated to play as the season winds down. Detroit hasn’t faced Feldman yet this season either, and I expect him to be extremely motivated to come out strong after his embarrassing last start.

New York has several players not playing tonight because of injury and/or rest. This list includes Amani Toomer, Plaxico Burress, Steve Smith, David Tyree, Mario Manningham, Sam Madison, and R.W. McQuarters. Tom Coughlin said that Eli Manning will play 25 plays tonight, but he also said that his offense is going to be very basic because they play the Browns later in the season. Meanwhile, Cleveland’s offensive approach to this game is almost the exact opposite. Romeo Crennel still feels that Derek Anderson needs more experience with his receivers and will look to play a wide open offense. Meanwhile, Brady Quinn also needs experience, so the offense will be very aggressive with him in the game. Anderson and Quinn are expected to play almost the entire game, and I expect a lot of points put on the board by them. There is absolutely no motivation for the Giants in this game, and most of their roster spots are already claimed. Cleveland will be on primetime television tonight, and many of their young players expressed excitement in playing on ESPN. Cleveland was able to put up 20 points against the Jets in their first game, and I expect a similar if not better offensive performance tonight. Look for the Browns to get the win.