Here’s what we have for baseball games this weekend. First check out what Fox has in store for us on Saturday.
FOX SPORTS NOTES, QUOTES & ANECDOTES
Phillies/Dodgers, Indians/White Sox & Twins/Mariners Meet on FOX Saturday Baseball Game of the Week
Rosenthal: Standards of Journalism Have Loosened & Players Suffer
NLCS REMATCH HIGHLIGHTS FOX SATURDAY BASEBALL GAME OF THE WEEK – It’s a rematch of last year’s NLCS on Saturday, June 6 (4:00 PM ET) as Ryan Howard and the World Series Champion Phillies travel to Chavez Ravine to take on Matt Kemp and the Dodgers. It’s an AL Central battle in Chicago as Jim Thome, fresh from joining the 500-HR club, and the White Sox welcome Victor Martinez and the Indians to U.S. Cellular Field. Also, Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau and the Twins visit Ichiro, Ken Griffey, Jr. and the Mariners. The MLB on FOX pregame show originates live from Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles with host Chris Rose. Once game action begins, Rose joins the game crew including Dick Stockton, Eric Karros and Ken Rosenthal as a field reporter. For instant updates during the week and games from the entire MLB on FOX crew, follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/MLBONFOX.
Philadelphia Phillies at Los Angeles Dodgers, Dick Stockton, Eric Karros & Ken Rosenthal, going to 77% of USA
Dodger Stadium – Los Angeles, CA
MARKETS INCLUDE: Albuquerque, Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Birmingham, Boston, Buffalo, Charlotte, Cincinnati, Dallas, Denver, Fort Myers, Greensboro, Greenville, Hartford, Houston, Jacksonville, Knoxville, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Louisville, Memphis, Miami, Milwaukee, Nashville, New Orleans, New York, Norfolk, Oklahoma City, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Providence, Raleigh, Richmond, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco, St. Louis, Tampa, Tulsa, Washington, West Palm Beach
Cleveland Indians at Chicago White Sox, Thom Brennaman & Tim McCarver, going to 15% of USA
Comiskey Field – Chicago, IL
MARKETS INCLUDE: Chicago, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, Detroit, Indianapolis, Kansas City
Minnesota Twins at Seattle Mariners, Kenny Albert & Mark
Grace, going to 7% of USASafeco Field – Seattle, WA
MARKETS INCLUDE: Minneapolis, Portland, Seattle
ROSENTHAL: STANDARDS OF JOURNALISM HAVE LOOSENED & PLAYERS SUFFER – Ken Rosenthal’s recent column on FOXSports.com about MLB players living in an age of speculation when it comes to the use of PED’s has been a heavily debated topic within national media outlets this week. The one question that continues to be asked is; “How did the state of journalism get to this point?” “We got here because standards have loosened due to the rise of the internet, sports web sites, the popularity of talk radio, and the pressure on daily newspapers,” said the MLB on FOX insider. “I understand that standards change with new technology and now with blogs and the freedom the web provides, people can more easily speak their minds. In many ways that’s a good thing but the problem comes when people blog without any sense of journalistic responsibility. Journalism to some degree is suffering. When you start throwing stuff around irresponsibly, there’s something lost. I’m troubled by some of the things that are written and said now without any hesitation.”
ROSENTHAL: WOULD-BE SELLERS NOT READY TO START DEALING YET – While some buyers are ready to deal, even some of the likely sellers are not yet ready to concede. MLB on FOX’s Ken Rosenthal looks at three likely sellers and why they may not be ready to pull the trigger just yet.
Marlins: 12-27 since their 11-1 start, 6 1/2 games back in both the NL East and wild-card races. Their starting pitching is coming around, posting a 3.27 ERA in the past nine games. Right-hander Anibal Sanchez returned from a shoulder injury on Tuesday night, and the offense seems to be reviving. Rookie left fielder Chris Coghlan has averaged five pitches per plate appearance in his first three games and second baseman Dan Uggla has 34 RBIs despite batting .206. The Marlins still figure to trade Uggla and first baseman Jorge Cantu if they fall out of contention. Not yet.
Padres: They obviously will trade right-hander Jake Peavy at the first opportunity, but guess what? They’re only four games back in the wild-card race. For the Padres to stay competitive, they will need Kevin Kouzmanoff or Chase Headley to provide adequate protection for Adrian Gonzalez in the lineup and right-handed starters Kevin Correia, Chad Gaudin and Josh Geer to enjoy, ahem, career years. It’s almost certainly too much to ask, but the Padres expect reliever Mike Adams and shortstop Everth Cabrera to return from injuries within the next two weeks.
Diamondbacks: While they have played worse than the Padres, they also are not ruling out a wild-card bid if they can get hot and push their record to .500. It would help if shortstop Stephen Drew and center fielder Chris Young got even half as hot as right fielder Justin Upton — and if right-hander Brandon Webb and left fielder Conor Jackson, returned from injuries. Webb, recovering from shoulder bursitis, has thrown off flat ground for the past two weeks with no difficulty and could be about a month away from rejoining the club. Jackson, battling Valley Fever, could miss anywhere from another three weeks to the rest of the season. It’s difficult to imagine the D-Backs challenging for a postseason berth without significant contributions from both.
Click here for more from Rosenthal: http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/9638796/Would-be-sellers-not-ready-to-start-dealing-…-yet
And on Sunday Night Baseball, ESPN heads out west for the Phillies-Dodgers matchup and on Monday night, ESPN airs the Yankees. Again.
World Champion Phillies Visit NL West-Leading Dodgers on Sunday Night BaseballESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball telecast includes National League division leaders — Philadelphia (30-20) and the Los Angeles Dodgers (36-18) — June 7 at 8 p.m. Dan Shulman, Joe Morgan and Steve Phillips will call the action from Dodgers Stadium. The game will also be available via ESPN HD, ESPN Radio, ESPN Deportes, ESPN360.com and ESPN Mobile TV.
ESPN’s Monday Night Baseball will showcase an American League East rivalry when the defending AL Champion Tampa Bay Rays travel to New York City to play the first-place Yankees on June 8 at 7 p.m. Chris Berman and Orel Hershiser will provide commentary. The game will also be available via ESPN HD, ESPN360.com and ESPN Mobile TV.
I’ll have TBS’ game later today.
