Filed under: Marlins, Orioles, Phillies, Rays, Twins, Yankees
On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing baseball matchups.
Baltimore Orioles (67-86) at New York Yankees (84-71) - 8:05 PM ET
There was a lot of wondering as to why the Yankees couldn't have the last game at Yankee Stadium on the last game of the season instead of having to play a whole week on the road afterwards. Some of that wondering came from the good folks at ESPN. But here's the rub: If the Yankees closed out the season at home, their final game at the Stadium would have been a daytime affair since recent history shows that the last day of the season doesn't include an ESPN Sunday night game (most likely to keep things fair for playoff teams and making sure they all get the same amount of rest and travel time). The way it is now, the final game in the House That Ruth Built And Steinbrenner Renovated gets the spotlight all to itself tonight on the very same network that wondered the schedule makers didn't have the Yankees close out the season in the Bronx against Boston.
Oh, and do you have tickets to the game? Leave your house now. Gates for the 8:05 start open at 1PM, and you can walk on the warning track until 4PM.
Minnesota Twins (83-72) at Tampa Bay Rays (92-61) - 1:40 PM ET
Sports
With the Rays in, the Red Sox almost in, and the Angels in, there's two teams battling for one spot, and the Twins have some ground to make up. And they would really appreciate it if Francisco Liriano would come to the park today, take this pennant race by the scruff of the neck, and start the Twins on the road to that final spot. Liriano had a clunker in his last start, but has been very good since being called back up to the majors ... and if he had gotten any run support, he would have had an eight game win streak. It's time for Liriano to go to the next gear if he has one.
Philadelphia Phillies (87-68) at Florida Marlins (81-73) - 4:10 PM ET
Plenty of other games to choose from for the final feature, all with playoff implications. We'll go with the game that comes closest to two teams that have realistic playoff implications. The Marlins had won nine straight games before last night's loss to Philly to climb back into the periphery of the race. But the most entertaining part of this series came on Friday, when the Phillies made the Marlins coaches stay in their boxes ... with Florida responding by making Brett Myers cover his tattoos while on the mound. Can sneaking some atomic balm in the other team's jockstraps be far behind?
Everyone else:
- Tigers at Indians 1:05 EDT
- Red Sox at Blue Jays 1:07 EDT
- Brewers at Reds 1:15 EDT
- Mets at Braves 1:35 EDT
- Astros at Pirates 1:35 EDT
- Padres at Nationals 1:35 EDT
- White Sox at Royals 2:05 EDT
- Cardinals at Cubs 2:20 EDT
- Diamondbacks at Rockies 3:05 EDT
- Angels at Rangers 3:05 EDT
- Mariners at Athletics 4:05 EDT
- Giants at Dodgers 4:10 EDT
