From what I understand, via Vin Scully on a tip from the producers at AOL Sports (and now confirmed by Tony Jackson's Daily News blog) the reason everyone tuning into the San Francisco - Los Angeles rubber match this evening is getting treated to a Hong-Chih Kuo and Merkin Valdez matchup is the weather. Because everyone was expecting a Tim Lincecum - Chad Billingsley matchup. Which may have been slightly more exciting.There were expected showers for the entire evening in Los Angeles, meaning that a rain delay was entirely possible, even likely. This is April, and this is baseball, so it's not a huge shock to see rain early in the season. However, if you got to check in on any of the Brewers - Cubs Live Blog on Opening Day on Monday, you were treated to an hour long break followed by both Ben Sheets and Carlos Zambrano coming back out and turning up the dial for a few more innings.
My point of the comparison is simply that putting a pitcher out on the mound when you know it's going to rain is one thing (and it's not smart if you can help it, because you never want to deal with a rain delay in the middle of your star's start), it's an entirely different roll of the dice to stick two very good and very young pitchers on the mound this early in the season. The Dodgers and Giants are pretty heavily invested in both pitchers (and well, with the Giants, it's all they got) so it's a good move, and nice to see, especially considering the way San Francisco has been so willing to give away future all stars for cash and a catcher.
Update: Merkin was pulled with a no-hitter. Through two inning.
Super Maddening Update Number Two: Lincecum is in the game! And he's giving up runs! And Billingsley's in the bullpen warming up! What a phenomenal waste of time!
