F.A. Cup final day doesn’t seem as special now as it once did, but it is still a notable event on the British sporting calendar and I’m sure many will be tuning in this afternoon.
Whether the Wembley final is a thriller or a let down, MLB provides us with a host of exciting games to follow it during the British evening. All times are in BST.
18.05. Minnesota at NY Yankees (Francisco Liriano – Andy Pettitte)
Twins manager Ron Gardenhire made a big call in last night’s game, walking Mark Teixeira to load the bases ahead of Alex Rodriguez while leading by one run in the seventh inning. He was hoping to get an inning-ending double-play and had A-Rod’s grounder down the third-base line off the first pitch stayed fair, he would have looked like a genius. It went foul, A-Rod then hit a grand slam and poor old Gardy was left looking a tad foolish. Such is the life of a Big League manager. The Twins will hope to avenge that 8-4 loss today with Liriano taking on Pettitte.
18.05. Pittsburgh at Chicago Cubs (Paul Maholm – Ryan Dempster)
In the sole early game yesterday, the Buccos belted their way past the Cubs thanks to five-hit days by both Andrew McCutchen and Garrett Jones.  The locals were not impressed, particularly when the White Sox-supporting Jones took Carlos Zambrano deep for a three-run jack to break a 3-3 tie in the eighth. The beauty of baseball is that you can turn up the next day and put the last game behind you. That’s what the Cubs aim to do with Dempster on the mound.
18.07. Texas at Toronto (Scott Feldman – Ricky Romero)
So much for all of the pre-season comments about the Blue Jays being plunged into a year of misery following Roy Halladay’s departure for Philadelphia. No one expects them to keep pace with the Yankees, Rays and Red Sox for the entire season, but they are giving their fans plenty to cheer about. Despite quickly falling 9-3 down, they fought back against the Rangers yesterday for an 18-10 win, launching five home runs in the process to increase their Major League lead in the long-ball list (57, with the Red Sox next at 48).Â
19.10. Washington at Colorado (Livan Hernandez – Ubaldo Jimenez)
The Nationals and Rockies were rained out last night, so they’ll be a double-header today. That’s great news for us because we’re presented with an enticing pitching match-up between the crafty veteran Hernandez and one of the best young pitchers around in Jimenez.
21.10. Philadelphia at Milwaukee (Joe Blanton – Chris Narveson)
The Phillies got the better of Randy Wolf and the Brewers last night in a 9-5 win that saw Jamie Moyer improve his record to 5-2. Joe Blanton makes his third start of the season in today’s game against reliever turned (temporary?) starter Chris Narveson, who has earned a win in each of his last two appearances.
21.10. Houston at San Francisco (Roy Oswalt – Tim Lincecum)
No great build-up is needed here: ‘Oswalt versus Lincecum’ says it all. It should be a fascinating pitching duel, largely due to the quality of the hurlers on the mound but also because neither team has much of an offence. The Astros are dead-last in the Majors with a team .275 on-base percentage, while the Giants are twentieth in that category (.337).
21.10. Seattle at Tampa Bay (Jason Vargas – James Shields)
The Mariners scuffled their way to a 4-3 win over the Rays last night, but games like that can help to get a team going in the right direction. The M’s certainly need to change something as their 14-21 record is far below the lofty expectations placed on them this year. James Shields took a loss in his last outing, but he will not feel too bad about that as his opposite number pitched a perfect game. Expect ‘Big Game’ James to bounce back today.
All the above games can be followed via various resources on MLB.com (Gameday, At Bat with Gameday Audio and MLB.tv), while ESPN America is broadcasting the Twins-Yankees and Phillies-Brewers. A complete schedule of MLB games can be found on MLB.com
