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Oakland A?s at Los Angeles Angels 10:05 PM ET
Los Angeles Angels (Moseley) -116
Joe Kennedy earned the fifth spot by default this spring and not because he won the job. In his first four starts, Kennedy had five strikeouts in his first 9.2 innings, and had allowed 22 earned runs. A's manager Bob Geren has said the job was Kennedy's unless he pitched himself out of it which he nearly did, bringing a 20.48 ERA into that start. His fifth start game him and the A?s some confidence but he followed that up with a poor performance in his final spring outing, allowing four runs in six innings. Overall, he finished with an 11.76 ERA over 20 innings.
The Angels counter with Dustin Moseley who is filling in the rotation for Jared Weaver and Bartolo colon until the pair returns from their injuries. However, it isn?t like he is one of those emergency fill-ins as he had a very solid spring and will likely be moved to the bullpen. He finished spring training going 2-0 with a 2.29 ERA in 19.2 innings of work. He faced the A?s once last season and was shelled, giving up seven runs on 10 hits and two walks in only four innings of work but he is in a much different place this time around.
Fast starts haven't been an A's specialty in recent years. Last season, when they also played a heavy divisional schedule early, the A's were just 24-29 at the end of May but went on to win the division. Two years ago, Oakland was 19-32 at the end of May and still finished six games over .500. The Angels dominated this series last season as they won 11 of the 19 meetings. Going back to last season, the Angels are 23-8 in their last 34 games at home making this one of the toughest places for the opposition to come into.
Kennedy missed most of last season with shoulder problems and when he did return, he went right to the bullpen. This means he has not started a game since 2005 and it?s obvious from his spring numbers that he is struggling getting back into the flow of starting. Facing good teams in the past has been a problem as his team?s record is 1-15 against the money line against teams that are outscoring the opposition by 0.5 or more rpg on the season over the last two seasons. The Angels continue to keep Kennedy off his game on Friday. Play Los Angeles Angels 2 Units
Philadelphia Phillies at Florida Marlins 7:05 PM ET
Philadelphia Phillies (Moyer) -112
Jamie Moyer is ageless at 44 as he is still baffling hitters, both in his short stint in the National League last season and this year in spring training. In six starts this spring, he finished 1-0 while posting a 3.42 ERA. After being traded from Seattle last year, he started eight games for the Phillies, going 5-2 with a 4.03 ERA and 1.09 WHIP, both of which were much better than his numbers with the Mariners. In those eight games were three against the Marlins where he went 3-0 with a 3.32 ERA and 1.11 WHIP including a 2-0 mark and 1.38 WHIP at Dolphins Stadium.
Mitre was the Florida's No. 2 starter last season, but missed most of the year with right shoulder inflammation and finished 1-5 with a 5.71 ERA in 15 appearances. He had an encouraging spring but tossed only 14 innings so he is not ready for full time starting yet. It seemed some extra time to build up his arm strength in the bullpen would be beneficial but the Marlins elected to pitch him instead of Ricky Nolasco as manager Fredi Gonzalez made the move to help strengthen the bullpen since a fifth starter isn?t needed until next week.
Philadelphia's 8-4 loss to Atlanta on Thursday capped a three-game sweep for the Braves, and an all-too-familiar start for the Phillies. Philadelphia started the season 1-6 last year with the first two series being at home. A trip away from Philadelphia in its second series and to a warm place is just what this team needs right now. The Marlins got off to a horrible start at Dolphin Stadium in 2006, losing 13 of its first 15 home games and in thi
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