Tonight's Game

For those following tonight's game on computer.

This could be a tough game for the Nationals. The Astros start Andy Pettitte, whose statistics are comparable to John Patterson's, while the Nats start Ryan Drese, whose statistics are comparable to, well, about one-tenth of Andy Pettitte. Drese hasn't pitched many good games lately--only one in the past month--but maybe he'll turn things around tonight. Of course, it's also possible he'll go three for three and hit a home run. Livan Hernandez did that last night, and the Nationals may need that offense from Drese to make up for the runs he gives up tonight.

Jamey Carroll starts again at shortstop tonight, and Cristian Guzman sits. Unfortunately, Carroll is leading off even though his OBP is only .313, but complaining about that seems a bit much given that his OBP is 80 points higher than the alternative--Guzman.

The Nationals really have to win this game tonight. If they don't they'll be three games behind the Astros in the wild card race. Let's hope Drese looks a lot like Livan Hernandez did last night--the hitter, that is, not the pitcher.