On Deck: The Return of The Rotund One

On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing baseball matchups

San Diego Padres (73-60) vs. Los Angeles Dodgers (70-63)-10:05PM Est.

Way back, in the long long ago, David Wells played for the San Diego Padres. It was August 2007, and the world was a funny place back then. People were walking around the streets playing with their iPhones, debating who was more Now, and most inexplicably, the Cubs were in first place. They were strange days my friend, very strange days indeed, and I'm just proud I survived. Now, just over three weeks later, Wells returns to San Diego to face his former team. In his only start as a Dodger, Wells lasted five innings and gave up two runs to pick up a victory. The Dodgers are currently riding a four game win streak, and have gotten back in the race in the NL West. The Padres send Jack Cassel to the bump, and I had never heard of Jack Cassel until I just typed his name over there. The reason Cassel is in there is because he was called up from Triple-A to fill a void in the Padres starting rotation. A void that was created by the departure of David Wells. See that? It all comes full circle man. It's life. The circle of life.


Atlanta Braves (69-65) vs. New York Mets (73-60)-7:35PM Est.

The Atlanta Braves were sitting around yesterday watching the Phillies finish off a four game sweep of the division leading Mets when it hit them. Chipper Jones stood up, and addressed the team, "Hey! We should do that!!" Chipper then fell down and broke 14 bones, including his left arm, but he'll still be in the lineup tonight. The man is a gamer! Whether that story is true or not, the Braves really wouldn't mind following the Phillies lead. The Mets now only hold a two game lead over Philadelphia, and a 4.5 game lead over Atlanta. They're in the middle of a five game losing streak, and they need to get out of it soon or they're going to be in a lot of trouble. It's one thing to have to fight off one team, but fighting off two? That's the kind of thing that could tire a team out come playoff time. John Maine looks to save the sinking ship, and get the Mets back on the winning track. Tim Hudson starts for Atlanta.

Cleveland Indians (76-57) vs. Chicago White Sox (57-77)-7:05PM Est.

The game in and of itself isn't what's worth watching in this matchup. I'll go ahead and spoil the entire thing for you right now. Cleveland will score about 13 runs, and the Sox will score 2. You see, the Indians are good, and the White Sox are bad. The reason you should watch this game is just to see what Ozzie Guillen is going to say afterwards. He hasn't let us down the last two days, claiming his team is killing him, and then ripping the media for their double standards. The man is reaching his boiling point, and that means we all win. Take this quote for example about what it's like dealing with his team this season. ''It's the same thing every day. It's like your kid is 2 years old and he likes Barney. And you put that little [expletive] down there for three hours watching that [expletive] back and forth, back and forth, the same song for six hours. That's what I've been doing since April. Same [expletive] thing. Rewind it. 'You OK? Yeah, OK, here's your bottle, keep watching Barney.''' And people want this guy fired? Where would we get these quotes if Ozzie was fired?!