- Baseball’s hottest pitcher, Justin Verlander, will make his first interleague start of the year against the Cardinals, who will counter with Adam Wainwright. Verlander is 7-0 with a 1.10 ERA in his last nine starts, and he’s 8-0 with a 2.30 ERA lifetime during interleague play. The Cardinals’ lost their series against the Tigers in both 2007 and 2008, though they did win one that mattered more back in 2006.
- In a matchup of the past two World Series losers, the Rays and Rockies will go at it in Coors Field. Colorado is aiming for a 12th straight victory, which would top the franchise record of 11 established during the run to the postseason in 2007. Jeff Niemann and Jorge De La Rosa will be the starters.
- As a result of being swept by the Angels over the weekend, the Padres have now lost 11 interleague games in a row, tying the mark established by the Mets in 2003-04. In order to avoid breaking the record, they’ll probably have to do some damage against the Mariners’ Felix Hernandez, who has allowed three earned runs in his last four starts. Kevin Correia pitches for San Diego.
- Since Ervin Santana’s troublesome elbow needs a break (and, most likely, a new ligament), Sean O’Sullivan will make his major league debut for the Angels against the Giants. O’Sullivan, 21, was 6-4 with a 5.82 ERA, 82 H and 49/15 K/BB in 68 IP between Double-A Arkansas and Triple-A Salt Lake. Obviously, the Angels would have just as soon left him in the minors for the rest of the season, but he does have fourth or fifth starter potential thanks to his command and quality curveball.
Game of the Night
White Sox vs. Cubs - The crosstown rivals enter their first interleague matchup this year with 30 wins apiece. Both are in third place in their respective divisions, and both have suffered due to struggling offenses. In fact, the Cubs just fired their hitting coach on Sunday. The series opener will feature John Danks and Carlos Zambrano. Danks has had problems with the long ball, but the Cubs have hit just nine homers against left-handers all season. Zambrano, who has lowered his ERA from 4.64 to 3.39 with three straight excellent outings, is 5-2 with a 4.45 ERA lifetime against the White Sox.