This article is part of our The Lineup Card series.
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Projected Starters - A look at Friday's matchups (all times Eastern)
Dodgers (Hyun-Jin Ryu - L) at Cubs (Travis Wood - L), 4:05 PM
Rockies (Jhoulys Chacin - R) at Pirates (Gerrit Cole - R), 7:05 PM
Braves (Kris Medlen - R) at Phillies (Ethan Martin - R), 7:05 PM
Mariners (Aaron Harang - R) at Orioles (Chris Tillman - R), 7:05 PM
White Sox (Hector Santiago - L) at Tigers (Doug Fister - R), 7:08 PM
Cardinals (Shelby Miller - R) at Reds (Bronson Arroyo - R), 7:10 PM
Giants (Madison Bumgarner - L) at Rays (Chris Archer - R), 7:10 PM
Diamondbacks (Randall Delgado - R) at Red Sox (Jon Lester - L), 7:10 PM
Indians (Ubaldo Jimenez - R) at Marlins (Jose Fernandez - R), 7:10 PM
Royals (Wade Davis - R) at Mets (Dillon Gee - R), 7:10 PM
Nationals (Jordan Zimmermann - R) at Brewers (Tom Gorzelanny - L) 8:10 PM
Astros (Dallas Keuchel - L) at Twins (Samuel Deduno - R), 8:10 PM
Blue Jays (Todd Redmond - R) at Angels (Tommy Hanson - R), 10:05 PM
Rangers (Alexi Ogando - R) at Athletics (Tommy Milone - L), 10:05 PM
Yankees (CC Sabathia - L) at Padres (Andrew Cashner - R), 10:10 PM
Day Game After Night Game: None
Day-to-Day
Carlos Gonzalez, OF, COL - (Finger) Held out of Thursday's lineup after aggravating his injury Wednesday.
Cliff Lee, P, PHI - (Neck) Scheduled start Friday was pushed back due to soreness.
Michael Cuddyer, OF, COL - (Personal) Missed Thursday's game to attend to a family matter.
Jose Altuve, 2B, HOU - (Quadriceps) Held out of Thursday's lineup after aggravating his injury.
Bobby Parnell, P, NYM - (Neck) Dealing with soreness.
Brandon Barnes, OF, HOU - (Back) Not in Thursday's lineup but was available off the bench.
Gerald Laird, C, ATL - (Stomach) Expected to miss a few days after having a kidney stone removed Wednesday.
Players on the DL
Albert Pujols, 1B, LAA - (Foot) Believes he can return to the field this season.
Miguel Montero, C, ARI - (Back) Hit the 15-day DL on Thursday with a strain.
Wandy Rodriguez, P, PIT - (Forearm) Threw from flat ground Wednesday and Thursday.
Jenrry Mejia, P, NYM - (Elbow) Admitted that the bone spurs in his elbow bothered him during his start against the Marlins on Wednesday.
Franklin Morales, P, BOS - (Shoulder) Tossed a scoreless inning in his second rehab appearance with Triple-A Pawtucket on Wednesday.
Alex Wilson, P, BOS - (Thumb) Set to make back-to-back rehab appearances with Triple-A Pawtucket on Thursday and Friday.
Dustin McGowan, P, TOR - (Oblique) Landed on the 15-day DL on Thursday.
Brandon Morrow, P, TOR - (Forearm) Transferred to the 60-day DL on Thursday.
Chris Getz, 2B, KC - (Knee) Appeared to be nearing a return but hit the 15-day DL on Thursday.
Josh Willingham, OF, MIN - (Knee) Expected to begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Rochester this weekend.
Jason Hammel, P, BAL - (Arm) Underwent an MRI on Friday.
Wilson Betemit, 3B, BAL - (Knee) Will begin a rehab assignment Aug. 6 with the team's Gulf Coast League affiliate.
Lance Berkman, 1B, TEX - (Hip) Expects to begin a rehab assignment Aug. 8 or 9.
Clay Buchholz, P, BOS - (Shoulder) A timetable for his return to a mound will be established by the team by Sunday.
Alex Rodriguez, 3B, NYY - (Hip) Set to play in rehab games with Double-A Trenton on Friday and Saturday.
Transactions - Players who have been demoted, called up, traded, released, you name it. We'll cover it here.
Placed on the DL
Dustin McGowan, P, TOR
Brandon Morrow, P, TOR (transferred to the 60-day DL)
Chris Getz, 2B, KC
Activated from the DL
Sergio Santos, P, TOR
Sean O'Sullivan, P, SD (paternity list)
Called Up
Jimmy Paredes, OF, HOU
Zeke Spruill, P, ARI
Steven Wright, P, BOS
Tuffy Gosewisch, C, ARI
Chad Bettis, P, COL
Sent Down (to Triple-A, unless otherwise noted)
Miles Mikolas, P, SD
Jose De La Torre, P, BOS
Brandon Workman, P, BOS
Avisail Garcia, OF, CWS
Chaz Roe, P, ARI
Jeff Francis, P, COL
Traded
Robert Andino, 2B, PIT (from SEA)
Closer Watch
San Francisco - Sergio Romo notched his 25th save of the season with a scoreless ninth inning against the Phillies on Thursday. Despite a tough month of July (5.63 ERA), the right-hander is sporting a sub-3.00 ERA for the season and is fifth in the National League in saves. Romo is still using his deceptive slider to get batters out, but he's throwing it way less than he did last season (from 61.8 percent to 47.2 percent), and is instead relying more on his changeup, fastball and cutter. While Romo hasn't been as dominant as he was in 2011 and 2012, he has been able to avoid the disastrous outing -- just three appearances with more than one run allowed -- and remain consistent.
Seattle - The Mariners' bullpen managed to squander a 7-2 lead over the Red Sox in the ninth inning of Thursday's game to lose 8-7. It started with closer Tom Wilhelmsen, who allowed a run on two walks and two hits without recording an out. Oliver Perez was then unable to stop the bleeding, as Boston got to him for three runs to pull within one. Finally, Yoervis Medina sandwiched a walk between two RBI singles to allow Boston to win in walk-off fashion. Even though he started the madness, Wilhelmsen appears safe in the closer's role for now, after a month of July where he posted a 2.84 ERA and went 8-for-8 in save chances. Perez has been struggling mightily in recent weeks, but the 25-year-old Medina is a guy to keep an eye on.
KEY MATCHUPS: HOT | |||||||||||||||||||
| Hot Batter Matchups | At-Bats | AVG | HR | XBH | RBI | BB | K | SLG | OBP | OPS | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| J.J. Hardy - SS | BAL vs SEA 8/2 7:05 PM | Aaron Harang | 6-24 | .250 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 2 | .625 | .250 | .875 | |||||||
| Gordon Beckham - 2B | CWS @ DET 8/2 7:08 PM | Doug Fister | 4-14 | .286 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | .500 | .444 | .944 | |||||||
| Alex Rios - OF | CWS @ DET 8/2 7:08 PM | Doug Fister | 8-16 | .500 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | .563 | .529 | 1.092 | |||||||
| Carlos Beltran - OF | STL @ CIN 8/2 7:10 PM | Bronson Arroyo | 7-23 | .304 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | .609 | .385 | .993 | |||||||
| Daniel Descalso - 2B | STL @ CIN 8/2 7:10 PM | Bronson Arroyo | 7-17 | .412 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 2 | .647 | .412 | 1.059 | |||||||
| Matt Holliday - OF | STL @ CIN 8/2 7:10 PM | Bronson Arroyo | 14-44 | .318 | 3 | 6 | 8 | 3 | 9 | .591 | .375 | .966 | |||||||
| Jon Jay - OF | STL @ CIN 8/2 7:10 PM | Bronson Arroyo | 10-25 | .400 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 3 | .680 | .400 | 1.080 | |||||||
| Elvis Andrus - SS | TEX @ OAK 8/2 10:05 PM | Tommy Milone | 5-10 | .500 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .600 | .500 | 1.100 | |||||||
| Jose Reyes - SS | TOR @ LAA 8/2 10:05 PM | Tommy Hanson | 8-21 | .381 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 4 | .619 | .435 | 1.054 | |||||||
| Josh Thole - C | TOR @ LAA 8/2 10:05 PM | Tommy Hanson | 11-26 | .423 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 2 | .615 | .444 | 1.060 | |||||||
| Hot Pitcher Matchups | At-Bats | Opp AVG | HR Allow | XBH Allow | RBI Allow | BB | K | Opp SLG | Opp OBP | Opp OPS | |||||||||
| None | |||||||||||||||||||
KEY MATCHUPS: COLD | |||||||||||||||||||
| Cold Batter Matchups | At-Bats | AVG | HR | XBH | RBI | BB | K | SLG | OBP | OPS | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nate McLouth - OF | BAL vs SEA 8/2 7:05 PM | Aaron Harang | 3-27 | .111 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 11 | .148 | .172 | .321 | |||||||
| Paul Konerko - 1B | CWS @ DET 8/2 7:08 PM | Doug Fister | 4-20 | .200 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | .300 | .238 | .538 | |||||||
| Aaron Hill - 2B | ARI @ BOS 8/2 7:10 PM | Jon Lester | 2-32 | .063 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 9 | .094 | .167 | .260 | |||||||
| Jason Kubel - OF | ARI @ BOS 8/2 7:10 PM | Jon Lester | 2-11 | .182 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .182 | .250 | .432 | |||||||
| David Freese - 3B | STL @ CIN 8/2 7:10 PM | Bronson Arroyo | 1-12 | .083 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .083 | .154 | .237 | |||||||
| James Loney - 1B | TB vs SF 8/2 7:10 PM | Madison Bumgarner | 2-10 | .200 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | .300 | .273 | .573 | |||||||
| Ryan Roberts - 3B | TB vs SF 8/2 7:10 PM | Madison Bumgarner | 1-14 | .071 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .071 | .071 | .143 | |||||||
| Scott Hairston - OF | WAS @ MIL 8/2 8:10 PM | Tom Gorzelanny | 3-15 | .200 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | .267 | .294 | .561 | |||||||
| Carlos Quentin - OF | SD vs NYY 8/2 10:10 PM | CC Sabathia | 4-22 | .182 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 6 | .318 | .250 | .568 | |||||||
| Cold Pitcher Matchups | At-Bats | Opp AVG | HR Allow | XBH Allow | RBI Allow | BB | K | Opp SLG | Opp OBP | Opp OPS | |||||||||
| Doug Fister | DET vs CWS 8/2 7:08 PM | White Sox Batters | 27-82 | .329 | 1 | 6 | 9 | 7 | 10 | .428 | .395 | .823 | |||||||
| Bronson Arroyo | CIN vs StL 8/2 7:10 PM | Cardinals Batters | 41-136 | .301 | 5 | 19 | 20td> | 7 | 25 | .536 | .340 | .876 | |||||||
| Tommy Hanson | LAA vs Tor 8/2 10:05 PM | Blue Jays Batters | 28-85 | .329 | 3 | 12 | 10 | 6 | 14 | .564 | .374 | .938 | |||||||
Recommended Pickup
Alex Avila, C, DET - After an absolutely miserable first three months of the season -- he failed to hit above .183 in any month -- Avila seemed to work into a bit of a groove at the end of July. The 26-year-old finished the month on a six-game hitting streak, during which he hit .347 with two home runs and nine RBI. Avila has been somewhat unlucky this season (.260 BABIP), but the Tigers have been patient and it seems that patience is finally paying off. His role as top option behind the plate secure, and even in the nine-hole in the batting order, Avila should see plenty of chances to drive in runs over the final two months.
Other Recent RecommendationsYonder Alonso, Andre Rienzo, Juan Lagares and Tony Cingrani
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