Milton (4-9, 7.20)
Gosling (0-2, 7.88)
Well, this should be fun: two starters, both with season ERAs over seven. And I thought the home-run derby was not until after the weekend...
Okay, that's a little unfair - at least to Gosling, who hasn't actually started a game this season. Eric Milton, on the other hand, has no such excuse, and his performances so far make Russ Ortiz look like the steal of the century. Well worth a three-year, $25.5m contract? Hitters bat .311 against him this season, with a .946 OPS - put another way, facing Milton, your average player suddenly becomes a top-ten hitter.
But he's not facing average hitters: he's facing the Arizona Diamondbacks. So far in July, the entire team is batting a mere .227, dead last in the National League, and our 29 runs scored is also bottom of the chart. [Oddly, though, no team has hit more home runs than our dozen] Perhaps facing Milton will be the pick-me-up our hitters need. Or perhaps, facing our hitters will be the pick-me-up Milton needs... We shall see: I'll be around for the first hour or so, before going to work. Comments, as always, welcome.