Three very interesting pitching matchups highlight the Saturday baseball schedule, as Arizona takes on the Cubs, the Angels drop in on Tampa Bay, and Philadelphia faces San Francisco.
The Diamondbacks send rookie Max Scherzer to the hill for his second major league start on Saturday. Scherzer didn't exactly impress in his debut, lasting only four innings after surrendering five runs on eight hits to the Phillies.
Scherzer did have five strikeouts in the game, and has electric stuff, but with Doug Davis nearing a return the rookie's time in the Arizona rotation could be short-lived.
The Cubs give the ball to Ryan Dempster on Saturday, and he's coming off one of his best starts of the season despite taking the loss. Dempster threw six solid innings against Cincinnati in his last start, but his defense let him down and he allowed five unearned runs despite giving up only four hits and striking out nine.
The Angels send undefeated Joe Saunders (6-0, 2.61) after his seventh win of the season against Tampa Bay on Saturday. Saunders earned his sixth win in his last start, but he did not have his best stuff while giving up four runs on 12 hits in five innings.
Opposing Saunders will be lefty Scott Kazmir, who made his season debut earlier in the week after missing the start of the year with a strained elbow. His first start was against the Red Sox, and he lasted only four innings after allowing three runs on six hits.
The Rays' southpaw didn't have great command against the Sox, but according to reports of his latest bullpen session earlier in the week he's quickly improving and should have better stuff against the Angels.
In San Francisco on Saturday the veteran takes on the young gun when Jamie Moyer gets the start for the Phillies against the Giants' Tim Lincecum.
Moyer is 2-2 with a 4.15 ERA on the season, but he's coming off a solid start in which he limited hard-hitting Arizona to two runs on six hits over seven innings. Lincecum has been the bright spot in San Francisco's disappointing rotation at 4-1 with a 1.49 ERA.
Lincecum faced the Phillies in his last start and had to settle for a no-decision after allowing four unearned runs on six hits with five strikeouts over six innings.
In all three of those matchups the underdog has a good chance of pulling off an upset if they can get a quality outing out of their starter. Remember when scouring baseball odds that picking underdogs on the money line can still turn a profit even if your success rate is less than 50 percent.
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