It was a good night. Chad Billingsley punched out the free-swinging Reds 9 times, while Manny Parra added 5 of his own after a bout of wildness early on. Both pitchers also got me a much-needed win and a nice ERA and WHIP boost. I’m a bit disappointed that Jacoby Ellsbury wasn’t in the lineup to face Jamie Moyer (he did come in for pinch-hitting duty late in the game), but all in all I’m satisfied. Tonight’s key matchups:

Armando Galarraga vs. San Francisco Giants: Galarraga’s the latest in my line of spot starters following the release of Andrew Miller and Wandy Rodriguez, and normally I’d be wary of picking up a Tigers pitcher given the fact that their bullpen surrendered a lead to the Giants two nights ago. Tonight will be different, though, because on Monday the Giants had Tim freaking Lincecum on the mound. Tonight they’re sending out the biggest waste of $126 million on the planet, one Barry Zito. A semi-hot pitcher with a freakishly talented lineup supporting him is always good to have, but when that lineup is facing Barry Zito you can pretty much put it in the books. Galarraga’s getting a W tonight, and should be good for around 5 strikeouts as well.
Mark Buehrle vs. Pittsburgh Pirates: Justin advised me to pick up Buehrle and hold on to him. “He’s bound to be the only available ace pitcher for a first-place team.” He won’t light up the strikeout column, but he’s almost always good for 7 innings of quality pitching. Plus, you know, he’s playing the Pirates. At home. I’ll go ahead and say this will be a W as well, especially with Tom Gorzelanny struggling this season.
Russell Martin/James Loney vs. Bronson Arroyo: I like Arroyo. I really do. I guess I just have a soft spot for pitchers with ridiculous windups. But it takes more than a high leg kick to fool Martin. And I’m still waiting for Loney to show some of the power that he had last year. I realize that his 2007 stats were kind of inflated, and that he’s not really a .331/.381/.538 kind of guy, but his slugging’s down nearly 100 points. I still believe he’s a .500 kind of slugger, and this is the perfect place for him to learn how to go yard again — the Great American Smallpark is very, very homer-friendly. As previously mentioned, though, the Dodgers tend to go cold at the plate, so this should be an interesting game that can go either way.