Let's get ready to rumble!
Judging by the matchups on the schedule for the last week of Interleague games, it could be that kind of week.
The next seven days feature regional turf wars like Yankees-Mets, Cubs-White Sox, Angels-Dodgers, Giants-Athletics and Rays-Marlins. There's also Reds-Indians, Orioles-Nationals and Rangers-Astros.
In addition to the rivalry-week battles, several other Interleague series are matchups of contenders, including Diamondbacks vs. Red Sox, Phillies vs. Athletics, Cardinals vs. Tigers and Diamondbacks vs. Marlins.
The last week of Interleague Play also offers several firsts, like the Red Sox making their first appearance at Houston's Minute Maid Park and the Yankees playing their first series at PNC Park, as well as making their first visit to Pittsburgh since the 1960 World Series and Bill Mazeroski's famous Game 7 home run.
The Rockies will be playing their first series at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City. The Twins play at San Diego's PETCO Park for the first time, the Giants make their initial appearance at Cleveland's Jacobs Field and the Phillies will make their Rangers Ballpark debut.
Here's the lineup:
Diamondbacks at Red Sox, Monday-Wednesday: The National League West-leading Diamondbacks make their first visit to Fenway Park since 2002 to take on the defending World Series champions and American League East-leading Boston. The last time the Snakes came to the Boston, they swept the Red Sox three straight. The Red Sox took two of three from Arizona at Chase Field last year.
Arizona will send right-hander Dan Haren (7-4, 3.26) against Red Sox ace Josh Beckett (7-4, 3.87) on Monday. Diamondbacks lefty Doug Davis (2-3, 3.65) opposes Boston right-hander Justin Masterson (4-1, 3.00) on Tuesday, with Randy Johnson (4-5, 5.09) and Tim Wakefield (4-5, 4.17) hooking up in Wednesday's series finale.
Phillies at Athletics, Tuesday-Thursday: First the Red Sox, then the Angels, now the NL East leaders face another pair of strong AL teams in Oakland and Texas.
The A's are second in the AL West. The Rangers, third place in the AL West and back over .500 with a win at Washington on Sunday, lead the Major Leagues in scoring. The Phillies are third, trailing only the Rangers and Cubs.
The Phillies will try to stop a five-game losing streak on Tuesday, when veteran lefty Jamie Moyer (7-4, 4.09) starts against Oakland right-hander Joe Blanton (3-10, 4.81). Kyle Kendrick (6-3, 5.06) and Greg Smith (4-5, 3.51) head to the hill on Wednesday, with Adam Eaton (2-5, 4.94) and Rich Harden (4-0, 2.44) scheduled to start on Thursday.
Rays at Marlins, Tuesday-Thursday: The Rays took two of three from the Fish at The Trop on June 13-15, then swept the Cubs before dropping two out of three to the Astros. The Rays, 7-5 in Interleague Play this season, are 23-35 all-time in the Citrus Series with Florida, including 9-20 at Dolphin Stadium. The Rays are seeking to win their fourth Citrus Series in the past seven years.
Tampa Bay's Andy Sonnanstine (8-3, 4.92) and Marlins lefty Scott Olsen (4-4, 3.51) will pitch the opener. Right-handers James Shields (4-5, 3.94) and Ryan Tucker (2-1, 4.50) will start game two, with Tampa Bay's Matt Garza (5-4, 4.10) and Florida's Mark Hendrickson (7-5, 5.73) scheduled to start game three.
Cardinals at Tigers, Tuesday-Thursday: A rematch of the 2006 World Series, a reunion of old pals Tony La Russa and Jim Leyland and a series matching two teams that have overcome numerous injuries to stay within striking distance of a playoff spot.
The Tigers have won 12 of their past 15 to climb to third place in the AL Central. The Cardinals, despite Albert Pujols and Adam Wainwright being on a disabled list that numbers in double digits, have kept pace with first-place Chicago in the NL Central and are currently atop the NL Wild Card standings.
The pitching matchups: Braden Looper (8-5, 4.10) vs. Kenny Rogers (5-4, 4.36) on Tuesday; Kyle Lohse (9-2, 3.63) vs. Armando Galarraga (7-2, 3.03) on Wednesday and either Mitchell Boggs (2-0, 5.40) or Todd Wellemeyer (7-2, 3.67) against Detroit's Nate Robertson (6-6, 5.60) on Thursday.
Yankees at Mets, Friday-Sunday: This series will be four games instead of three, as the two teams will make up the rainout of their May 16 game at Yankee Stadium on Friday as part of a day-night, two-stadium doubleheader. The day game at Yankee Stadium will start at 2:05 p.m. ET, with the regularly scheduled night game at Shea Stadium moved back to 8:10 p.m.
The two teams have met in day-night doubleheaders previously, the last time being June 28, 2003. The first time was July 8, 2000, when the two teams played a regularly scheduled day game at Shea and a night game at Yankee Stadium to make up a rainout. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, it was the first day-night doubleheader held at different venues since Sept. 7, 1903 (New York Giants vs. Brooklyn Superbas at Brooklyn's Washington Park and the Polo Grounds).
Both teams began the week in third place. This will be the final time they will meet at Shea Stadium. The Mets won both games played at Yankee Stadium last month.
Diamondbacks at Marlins, Friday-Sunday: Arizona continues its road trip to the East Coast with this three-game set at Dolphins Stadium. The Diamondbacks have cooled off after their sensational start, but are still atop the NL West, while the Marlins have been close on Philadelphia's heels in the tight NL East. If the rotation orders are unchanged, Friday's series opener will pit Arizona ace Brandon Webb against Florida's Andrew Miller.
Cubs at White Sox, Friday-Sunday: The crosstown series moves to the South Side. The two first-place teams put on quite a show over the weekend at Wrigley Field, now they'll try it again at the Cell. The Cubs had won six straight and nine of the last 10 meetings in this series. This season was the first time these two teams met when both were in first place.
Pitching matchups are uncertain with off days and the Cubs putting ace Carlos Zambrano on the DL. At this point it looks like it might be Sean Gallagher vs. Jose Contreras on Friday, Ryan Dempster vs. Javier Vazquez on Saturday and Sean Marshall vs. Mark Buehrle on Sunday.
Angels at Dodgers, Friday-Sunday: The Freeway Series resumes at Dodger Stadium. The Angels won two of three from the Dodgers last month. The Dodgers are 1-7 in Interleague Play this year and have dropped 12 of their last 19 homes games.
Giants at Athletics, Friday-Sunday: The A's swept the Giants at AT&T Park in the first leg of the Bay Bridge Series. The Giants have lost nine of their last 12, but are 15-15 in their last 30 games (entering play Monday).
Brewers at Twins, Friday-Sunday: If this one wasn't on your radar already, give it a look. These two teams have quietly played very well in recent weeks. The Twins have won six in a row and are 9-3 in Interleague Play. Minnesota took two out of three from Milwaukee when the teams met at the Metrodome on June 13-15. Since May 20, the Brewers are 21-10, the best record in baseball during that span.
Factoid of the week: The Cubs have the best record in baseball in part because of their 31-8 record at Wrigley Field. Part of that home-field success has to be attributed to some of the regulars in the lineup. Entering Sunday night's game, Kosuke Fukudome was batting .381 at Wrigley, the second-highest home batting average in the Major Leagues this year behind Atlanta's Chipper Jones (.456). Cubs second baseman Mark DeRosa's .364 home batting average ranks fifth, and shortstop Ryan Theriot's .343 is ninth. Makes you wonder what these guys will do in the second half, when the winds at Wrigley more often favor hitters than they do in April and May -- when it is cooler and the winds are blowing in.
Milestone of the week: San Diego's Greg Maddux needs five innings to tie and six innings to pass Roger Clemens for 15th place on the all-time list. Maddux has pitched 4,911 innings.
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