Kirk Saarloos, known for his ability to keep you in the game for 15 outs, gets the spot start today against Jason Johnson, known for his ability to pitch lots of innings just not all that successfully. It is a study in contrast: a guy likely enough to give you 5 innings, 2 ER against a guy likely enough to give you 8 innings, 4 ER. Which is better? Depends, I suppose, on your team's offense (advantage: Cleveland) and on your team's bullpen (advantage: A's, last night excluded).
Given the likelihood that Saarloos, especially in his first start of the season, won't go deep into the game, today's best pick for dark horse "key to the game" is Gaudin, who should be available, has a good arm but little track record, and is very likely to see action today in the 6th-7th innings before Duke and Street can (hopefully) become a factor. So let the "Waiting for Gaudin" watch begin, and look for the starting lineups to posted by my lovely assistant (and boss, and favorite Teixeira-stalker), baseballgirl.
Update [2006-5-4 15:14:25 by baseballgirl]:I'd like to point out that my pony is pitching today. Hopefully we won't have to shoot him later.
Lineups:
Sizemore
Michaels
Peralta
Hafner
Martinez
Broussard
Belliard
Boone
Blake
Ellis
Swisher
Kotsay
Chavez
Crosby
Johnson
Payton
Melhuse
Kielty (DH)
