[blogguy]

Did the profiles foreshadow Thursday night performances? Let's run through the starter's numbers quickly and see:

Oswalt: 6.1 IP and 1 ER
Willis: 7 IP and 1 ER
Willis did much better than his previous norms. Note the wind was blowing in here...the only park on the night that had any wind greater than minimal values. Game was 1-1 into the 8th. Doesn't mean for sure that the wind was a factor. Wind in a pitcher's park with big name starters can be a nice combo though, lol

Francis: 6 IP and 4 ER
Milton: 6 IP and 3 ER
Francis got nailed in the first inning with some bloopers and tweeners. He pitched a little better than those stats. Both guys were decent considering the high final score.

Billingsley: 5 IP and 0 ER
Marquis: 8 IP and 2 ER
Surprisingly strong night from Marquis. Billingsley made it through 5 and they got him out of the way. Still not doing impressive things, but he wasn't a big negative tonight.

Duckworth: 4.2 IP and 3 ER
Bonderman: 5.2 IP and 4 ER
Duckworth lived down to lame stats...Bonderman continued to struggle at home.

Loiaza: 5 IP and 3 ER
Lester: 5 IP and 1 ER
Loaiza still not in form. Lester AGAIN put 10 baserunners on but only allowed one to score. Still playing with fire....but not hurting his team just yet. Eventually the floodgate will bust open I'm afraid.

Padilla: 7 IP and 1 ER
Cabrera: 5.1 IP and 4 ER
More trouble for Cabrera. Padilla could coast with a lead.

Lee: 5.2 IP and 2 ER
Liriano: 5 IP and 4 ER
Clevfan and Shoebox foreshadowed this potential up in the Mess Hall. Liriano gave up 3 home runs...but still had a 5-1 ratio on ground ball outs. Ground ball pitchers can give up home runs when they don't have their stuff...important to remember in those "wind out" games. Some guys automatically take ground ball pitchers when the wind is blowing out. Not an issue in the Metrodome of course...but...I"m just saying...

On the whole...reality resembled the profiles to a good enough degree. There were a few good surprises (Willis and Marquis), and a bad one (Liriano). Right after a 3-day break, it's hard to say what's really expected and what isn't. Offenses have been dormant for 3 days. Some pitchers are on rotation, some aren't. Some had to fly in from the Dominican at the last second on Tuesday. A zillion variables...

Still waiting for more of you to share your thoughts on pitching stats. Don't you dare let me believe that I got it right the first time through!