[Joel Tyson]

Another Winner yesterday on the Tigers as Kenny Rogers came through as he won his first game since the All-Star Game just as I predicted.

I have now hit 4 out of my last 6 Complimentary selections as I release 2 selections today in tonight's huge rivalry between the Yankees vs. Red Sox as the game is a double-header.


Game 1:


Your Selection in game 1 is the New York Yankees with Wang over Johnson.


Just from the numbers alone, you should be able to see a clear mismatch as Wang is 13-5 this year with a sound 3.84 ERA whereas Johnson is 3-11 with a 6.26ERA.


This is a five game series and it will swing back and forth as emotions will be a roller coaster for both teams. However, game 1 is clearly an advantage for the Yankees as Wang comes off 2 relatively rough starts against the hot Angels and the ever-potent White Sox giving up a total 9 earned runs as the Yankees lost both games.


However, Wang has pitched stellar this year including giving up just 1 earned run in 7 innings of work in his last outing against the Red Sox back on June 6th.


Wang will get hit today and will give up around 3-5 runs in my opinions, but this should be a high-scoring affair as Johnson should get pounded even more by the Yankee bats.


After all, the Yankees had their way last game against him as they secured 6 runs and 10 hits off the Red Sox hurler and will look to do the same this time around.


Furthermore, the Yankees come off a frustrating loss to the Orioles yesterday as they got blown out by double-digits and will look to rebound quickly in this crucial series.


Thus, Yankees take Game 1 with Wang and plenty of offensive production.



2♦ New York Yankees

On a Scale from 1♦ to 5♦

Game 2:

Sidney Ponson is horrible.

I still cannot believe the Yankees in their right state of mind brought this veteran on-board with the assumption that he is going to help this squad get into the post-season.

Ponson did pitch well with St. Louis but much of that had to do with the fact that the National League was seeing him for the first time - the "Honeymoon" period if you will that pitchers get when they first face teams.

Similar pitchers in the honeymoon stage included Bronson Arroyo who is getting beat up like a rag doll in the national league as he faces teams the second time around now or even Zach Miner of the Tigers as teams are beginning to hit the young Detroit stud of late with regularity.

However, Ponson pitched with Baltimore for years, and teams in the American League, who have more offensive firepwoer given their style of play, are used to manufacturing runs against him.

Ponson has given up at least 5 earned runs in 4 out of his last 7 starts. In fact, in his last 2 starts which has totaled 9 innings, he has given up 10 earned runs to the Mariners and Blue Jays.

Boston faced him last year twice and secured 17 hits off of him in 13 innings. His counterpart today is Red Sox young gun Lester who is 6-2 with a 4.09 ERA.

Make no mistake as Lester too gets roughed up today by the Yankees as once again, this should be a high scoring game.

However, as both pitchers make repeated mistakes in this game to competent hitters, I simply believe the kid has an advantage facing the Yankees for the first time this season which Ponson does not.

Bottom line, Red Sox bounce back from their game 1 loss to win game 2 and Lester is the lesser of the 2 evils in this pitching match-up.

2♦ Boston Red Sox

On a Scale from 1♦ to 5♦