One Night Only: Hot Game Previews for June 6th

Felipe Paulino makes his second start for Kansas City tonight.

This edition of One Night Only contains:

1. Expanded previews for three games: Chicago Nationals at Cincinnati, Toronto at Kansas City, and Clay Fight 2011.

2. Pitcher and Team NERD scores for every one of tonight’s games.

3. Moxie?

Chicago Nationals (0) at Cincinnati (8) | 19:10 ET
Starting Pitchers
Cubs: Matt Garza (10)
55.2 IP, 10.99 K, 3.23 BB/9, 48.3% GB, 2.47 xFIP, 67 xFIP-

Reds: Mike Leake (7)
48.1 IP, 6.89 K, 2.98 BB/9, 45.2% GB, 3.64 xFIP, 97 xFIP-

Garza Returns
Matt Garza makes his first start since going on the DL with an elbow contusion near the end of May.

Elbow Contusion in Spanish
Here’s what you get when you translate elbow contusion into Spanish using Babel Fish: contusión del codo.

Elbow Contusion, Back into English
Here’s what you get when you translate contusión del codo back into English: Help, I’m trapped in this computer. Please free me from this nightmare of technology!

Garza’s Luck Stats
Garza’s 3.72 ERA is high relative to what we’d expect given his peripherals. Here’s how he’s faring in terms of the “luck” stats:

• BABIP: .362 (.287)
• LOB: 62.2% (72.7 %)
• HR/FB: 2.4% (ca. 8.8%)

Toronto (8) at Kansas City (10) | 20:10 ET
Starting Pitchers
Blue Jays: Brandon Morrow (10)
44.0 IP, 11.66 K/9, 3.89 BB/9, 30.2% GB, 3.11 xFIP, 78 xFIP-

Royals: Felipe Paulino (N/A)
First Start (6/1): 5.0 IP, 18 TBF, 4 K, 0 BB, 9 GB on 13 batted-balls (69.2%)

One Way We’re Different
You say po-TA-to, I say po-TAH-to.

Another Way We’re Different
You say, “Felipe Paulino’s not that great,” I say, “Imma cut you, friend. Please consider other people’s emotions before making such declarations.”

I’m a Paulino Fan, And So Can You!
What makes Paulino appealing, in five bullet points:

• His peripherals continue to suggest he’s better than his ERA.
• He owns an impressive fastball.
• Like, very impressive.
• Like, seeing-Mount-Rushmore-for-the-first-time impressive.
• He was traded for Clint Barmes, which is unfortunate in a number of ways.

Regarding the Royals, Their Ages
The average age for batters right now in the majors (per Baseball-Reference) is 28.5

The average age of the Royal lineups this season is 26.1. The Indians are pretty close, at 26.4, and then there’s not another team — Arizona and Oakland — until 27.4.

Gratuitous Use of Video
Here’s Paulino’s first appearance with the Royals. The slider at the 0:37 mark is the most notable moment.

Colorado (7) at San Diego (5) | 22:05 ET
Starting Pitchers
Rockies: Clay Mortensen (2)
39.0 IP, 4.85 K/9, 4.38 BB/9, 57.0% GB,4.46 xFIP, 119 xFIP-

Padres: Clayton Richard (1)
63.2 IP, 4.66 K, 3.82 BB/9, 45.9% GB, 4.62 xFIP, 123 xFIP-

Clay Fight!
Two Clays enter, both probably leave in the fourth or fifth inning.

Also Playing
These games are very likely playing at some kind of sporty channel near you.

pNERD = Pitcher NERD
tNERD = Team NERD
Game = Time and Average NERD for Game
* = Fewer than 20 IP, NERD of 5 (or 10 for debuts)