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Another largely-unknown starter goes for Houston - it's only Cassel's sixth career start, with just 27.2 major-league innings to his name, even though he'll be 28 before the season ends. He's replacing the injured Wandy Rodriguez, and got the win in his only previous outing, allowing seven hits and three earned runs in five innings, as the Astros beat the Reds.
We send out Edgar Gonzalez, who has been remarkably consistent, allowing three earned runs during each of his last three outings - though ended up with a loss, a no-decision and a win in them. A 4.66 ERA is not bad for any #5 starter - and if Edgar falters early, we may get to see the debut of eagerly-anticipated prospect Max Scherzer. He pitched 23 innings for Tucson, with a 1.17 ERA and a stunning K:BB ratio of 38:3. However, any decision there may depend on how Micah Owing's bullpen session goes - he rolled his ankle running the bases during his last start. With an off-day Thursday, he'll have an extra day to recover.
Today's Gameday Thread tip concerns the use of the 'Recommend' button on comments. Give it a shot if you see something that amuses, educates or entertains you: if enough people like a comment, it will be shown for newcomers to the thread with a green background, so they can enjoy it too. I'm deliberately keeping the threshold to get highlighted low; it's a nice way to show your approval of good posts.