So who do they send to the hill?
Brandon Backe
Like you, I have no idea what to expect from Backe tonight. General consensus is that he's going to get it handed to him. But how many times have we thought that about Backe in the past? Too bad this isn't a playoff game, he'd be lights out. We're not going to do any sort of statistical analysis, because it really doesn't count for much. In four appearances - all in relief - Backe has yet to record more more than nine outs. He has thrown 68 and 56 pitches in his last two appearances, respectively, but again only getting nine outs in both. He has given up runs in all four appearances. In his last appearance, a 3IP, 5ER outing, Backe recording only 1 groundball out.
Of course, he could go out and dominate. But the way he's pouting (see previous posts), I'm not so sure. He faces...
Vicente Padille
Padilla, with or without his flotilla, enjoyed some success once already in interelague play in his last outing with the Dodgers. He comes in with a 5-3 record and a 4.82 ERA.
Last three starts:
| Date-Opp | IP | H/ER | K:BB | GB/FB | Pit/Str |
| 6/2 @NYY | 3.2 | 7/7 | 1:4 | 12/4 | 89/46 |
| 6/7 @BOS | 7 | 4/2 | 4:4 | 10/9 | 99/59 |
| 6/12 vLAD | 5 | 4/0 | 2:3 | 8/9 | 108/71 |
Let's do the splits:
vs Righties: 22x113, .195/.266/.265, 15K:8BB
vs Lefties: 43x135, .319/.429/.437, 18K:23BB
When swinging at the first pitch (34): .267/.333/.333, 2XBH
After First-Pitch Strikes (127): .237/.286/.339, 21K:6BB
After First-Pitch Balls (128): .290/.438/.390, 12K:25BB
RISP: 19x70, .271/.366/.343, 7K:7BB
Runners on: 33x114, .289/.397/.368, 15K:16BB
2OwRISP: 6x27, .222/.323/.333, 4K:2BB
