SPOOKY EXPRESS SIX PACK FOR WEDNESDAY

[Spooky]

Six-pack for Wednesday

-- Marlins scored 14 runs at home Tuesday......and lost 16-14.

-- Don't look now, Rockies are only five games out of first, and with Arizona-Dodgers playing each other this weekend, the margin could get lot smaller if Colorado has good week.

-- Orioles will skip ace Guthrie Wednesday, will basically go with bunch of relievers as Red Sox fight for a playoff spot.

-- Astros' fine play continued as they beat Cubs 9-7 in 11 at Wrigley. Gritty Houston is now seven games over .500.

-- Brewers' infield defensive woes continue to haunt them in close games; they butchered a 10th inning bunt play, and it cost them the deciding run in a 6-5 Mets' win.

-- By the way, after his win in the Sausage Race Tuesday, the Hot Dog now has 18 wins this year, leading Polish Sausage by one, as the weiner season comes down the home stretch.

[Spooky]

Daily Sports Roundup for Wednesday, September 3rd

The Red Sox and Orioles will close out their three-game series on Wednesday afternoon, with Dice-K gunning for his 17th win. Here's your Daily Sports Roundup . . .

Event of the day . . .

Daisuke Matsuzaka (16-2, 2.82 ERA) is coming off his best outing of the season, holding the White Sox scoreless on two hits and two walks over eight innings of work in an August 29 win. The righthander also fanned seven in that contest. Matsuzaka has faced Baltimore twice over the past month and a half, winning both of those games.

The Orioles were expected to counter with Jeremy Guthrie (10-11, 3.57 ERA) in the series finale on Wednesday afternoon. However, Guthrie has been hit hard in each of his last two outings (giving up a combined 12 earned runs on 14 hits over 9 2-3 innings of work), and instead the team will skip his turn in the rotation this time around. Reliever Lance Cormier (2-3, 4.61 ERA) is the top candidate to start in place of Guthrie.

Baltimore has outfielder Adam Jones back in their lineup; he was activated from the disabled list on Monday, and homered in his first at-bat of that contest. Boston outfielder J.D. Drew (herniated disk in back) could return to the lineup at some point this week.

Non-event of the day . . .

It's been a long time since Barry Zito was considered a top pitcher, and he'll be looking to avoid his 17th loss of the season on Wednesday when the Giants play in Colorado. Zito (8-16, 5.62 ERA) was pounded for seven earned runs over just 3 1-3 innings in his last start (against the Reds). The Rockies' starter will be Aaron Cook (16-8, 3.88 ERA).

Also on the schedule . . .

Carl Pavano (2-0, 3.27 ERA) will be looking to keep that perfect record intact when he takes the mound for the Yankees in Tampa Bay on Wednesday night. Other games on the American League schedule: the White Sox at Cleveland, Seattle at Texas, the Angels at Detroit, Minnesota at Toronto, and Oakland at Kansas City.

Ryan Dempster (15-5, 2.95 ERA) will get the ball for the Cubs when they host Houston and Randy Wolf (8-11, 4.73 ERA) on Wednesday. Rounding out the National League slate: Atlanta at Florida, the Mets at Milwaukee, St. Louis at Arizona, Philadelphia at Washington, Pittsburgh at Cincinnati, and San Diego at the Dodgers.

Finally, there's one WNBA game on the Wednesday schedule: Minnesota at Phoenix.

News from the wire . . .

Running back Rudi Johnson will look to get his career back on track in Detroit, as the Lions signed him to a one-year deal . . . Rookie quarterback Joe Flacco will get the start for the Ravens this weekend . . . Browns quarterback Derek Anderson is expected to return from his concussion in time for the team's Week 1 contest . . . defected Predators forward Alexander Radulov seems unlikely to return to the NHL this season.

Peek at the future . . .

Scott Kazmir (10-6, 3.13 ERA) will take on Darrell Rasner (5-9, 5.08 ERA) in the Rays/Yankees finale on Thursday . . . Vijay Singh, the winner of each of the first two FedExCup playoff events, will be the favorite to take the trophy in this week's BMW Championship at Bellerive . . . this week's college football schedule gets underway on Thursday night, with Vanderbilt taking on South Carolina (-10).