Wood vs. Oswalt (3-0, 0.40 ERA in last 3 starts) tonight, and of course I can't watch 'cause I'm having dinner with the gf's family. Wood has a 4.34 ERA at Wrigley this year, if the 'Stros can take this one, it could shape up to be a great series. Munro/Clement will be a huge game; Houston owns Clement (1-3, 7.20 ERA vs. Hou since '99) although he pitched a great game against the 'Stros earlier this year and has been on a roll recently. The Miller/Zambrano matchup favors Hou, but Z has pitched well since joining the rotation a month or so ago. Saarloos & Prior, the only 2 players from last year's draft in the majors, are scheduled to start Thursday. Very good pitching on both sides; lots of power righties for the Cubbies, so Ward, Merced & Blum will need to come up big. My gut says a series split, though the 'Stros could take 3. Cincy gets Arizona at home, no Schilling this series but the Unit goes on Thursday. I say Snakes win 2 of 3. The Pirates may be a little tougher than the Co-ards would hope; Meadows has pitched well in his 2 starts (0-2, 2.92 ERA in 12 1/3 inn) while Simontacchi is 0-3 with a 14+ ERA over his last 3 starts, and it's Benes vs. Kip Wells in game 3 of the series - Pirates could take 2 of 3. All in all, the standings shouldn't change much going into the weekend series with Cincy.
