Halsey (8-7, 3.70)
Vargas (2-0, 2.55)
- Craig Counsell, 2B
- Royce Clayton, SS
- Luis Gonzalez, LF
- Troy Glaus, 3B
- Shawn Green, RF
- Conor Jackson, 1B
- Luis Terrero, CF
- Kelly Stinnett, C
- Brad Halsey, P
Shame we didn't have Claudio pitching for us today, to make it Vargas vs. Vargas. [After yesterday's performance, we take our pleasures where we can find them1] Instead, we send up Halsey, who has been our best pitcher lately (3-0, 1.40 ERA since the All-Star break) - rather better than Vazquez, for example, and pretty damn good for a throw-in on the Big Unit trade.
On the Marlins, only Encarnacion has a hit off Halsey, and he's not playing. We did face Vargas last series against Florida, but that was our only experience of him, so that side is pretty much a wash. Vazquez did keep the Marlins #1-2 off base yesterday as suggested (they went 0-for-10 combined), but it didn't do him much good at all, so I'm going to refrain from any tactical hints today.
Several changes from yesterday's line-up. Stinnett will be catching Halsey, and Terrero is in center field. Green moves back to right, and with Vargas a leftie, Jackson also gets his second consecutive start at 1B, which is good to see. Should be around for most of this one, unless it gets too depressing...
And a quick shout out to Fish Stripes, who have again interviewed Baxter as a series intro. I would reciprocate, but due to an unfortunate mix-up over addresses, Billy the Marlin arrived instead at a local Japanese restaurant. The resulting scene rivalled Kill Bill, Volume 1 for blood-letting. :-)