FanHouse ClayBucholz

While we're not going to know who the New York Yankees will be facing until Tuesday night, we do know that the Boston Red Sox will be taking on the Los Angeles Angels in the ALDS. We also know who will be pitching for both teams as Angels manager Mike Scioscia announced on Sunday that his starting rotation will have John Lackey going in Game 1, to be followed by Jered Weaver in Game 2, Scott Kazmir in Game 3 and Joe Saunders in Game 4.

Terry Francona announced the Red Sox rotation for the series on Sunday as well. Jon Lester will take the ball in Game 1 to face Lackey, while Josh Beckett will start Game 2 followed by the young Clay Bucholz in Game 3. The question is, who will Boston's fourth starter be?

On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing matchups

Cincinnati Reds (15-23) vs. Florida Marlins (23-14) 7:10PM Est.

Quick, without looking it up, who has the best record in baseball right now? Did you say the Diamondbacks? Close, you were right up until yesterday, but getting swept by the Cubs knocked them off the top of the mountain. The Red Sox? Good choice, they are the defending champs after all, but even though they have the best record in the American League, they aren't the best in baseball.

No, that honor somehow belongs to the Florida Marlins, who have managed to win their last 7 games and are currently an MLB-best 23-14.

Just what the hell is going on here?

On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing baseball matchups

Arizona Diamondbacks (20-8) vs. New York Mets (14-12) - 9:40PM Est.

There's no doubt about it, if Sloth from The Goonies weren't a fictional character and lived in the real world, his favorite baseball player would be Diamondbacks pitcher/slugger Micah Owings. Owings has only been in the bigs for a little over a year now, but he's already garnering comparisons to the legendary Babe Ruth.

Obviously, the comparisons are extremely immature, but it's easy to see why they're being made. After all, not only is Owings 4-0 on the season with a 3.48 ERA, but he may be the best hitter on the Diamondbacks as well. In 79 career big league at bats, Owings is hitting .354/.373/.671 with five homers and 18 runs driven in. In the entire history of baseball, of players who have had 75 career at bats, there are only four who have a higher career OPS than Owings' current 1.044: Barry Bonds, Lou Gehrig, Ted Williams, and of course, Babe Ruth.

On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing baseball matchups

Boston Red Sox (5-5) vs. New York Yankees (5-5) -7:05PM Est.

Tonight will be the first of eighteen over-hyped games between the Yankees and Red Sox this season. Aren't you super excited!? I mean, we only get to see these two teams play each other like 25 times a year, so you have to cherish every single pitch, because they're such a rarity. Though the newest chapter of this storied rivalry is going to be missing a few key characters. The Yankees won't have Derek Jeter or Jorge Posada (or Joe Torre for that matter), and the Red Sox don't have Curt Schilling or Mike Lowell at their disposal. Not to fear, though, as we now have completely idiotic new curses to talk about thanks to some dumbass thoughtful construction workers, and there's always the chance that hawk will attack the real Alexa Rodriguez tonight. I don't know about you, but I hope that hawk pecks Alex's eyes out and then craps on everybody in the stands. Clay Bucholz will be introduced to the Yankees for the first time tonight, and he looks to improve on a rather pedestrian performance in his last start. Chien-Ming Wang goes for the Yanks, and in his career against the SAWX he's 5-5 with a 4.56 ERA, but that could change tonight if he continues to pitch the way he did in his first two starts (13IP, 2 earned runs).

On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing matchups

Toronto Blue Jays (76-75) vs. Boston Red Sox (90-62) - 7:07PM Est.
Does anybody want to make the playoffs this season? Judging by the actions of most division leaders, I don't think they do. Just look around. The Mets are losing, the Cubs and Brewers can't take a lead, and the Red Sox have allowed the Yankees to creep within 2.5 games of them. All season it looked as if the AL East would be the only division in the American League without a race, and now it's the only division that hasn't been decided. The division lead isn't the only thing the Red Sox are messing with either. Thanks to their three-game slide, they currently have only a .5 game lead on Cleveland and Los Angeles for homefield advantage in the playoffs. So tonight it will be up to Clay Bucholz to save the team. It's the rook's first start since his no-hitter nearly three weeks ago. The Red Sox don't need another no-hitter tonight, just a win. Jesse Litsch starts for Toronto, and he's not liking September very much. Litsch is 0-3 with an 11.12 ERA this month, and opponents are hitting .396 against him.