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DISH DIAMONDS – The Best Hitting Matchups of the Day
 
Jonny Gomes meets the ball frequently when he bats off Ubaldo Jimenez. In 12 at-bats he's gone deep twice and hit .417.

Alex Gordon meet the nasty Max Scherzer. Have some success too don't ya kid? Not only is Gordon a .393 hitter in 28 at-bats against Max but he's also gone deep twice while walking seven times leading to a .514 OBP. Teammate Salvador Perez also has success against Scherzer going .389 with two homers in 18 at-bats.

Desmond Jennings can hit slow junk ballers. No surprise he rips it up versus Mark Buehrle with six hits in 12 at-bats.

Garret Jones figures to pound the young and often ineffective Jordan Lyles. In 14 at-bats Jones has terrorized Lyles for a .500 average, two homers and eight RBIs.

Nick Markakis has 18 hits, including four homers, in 54 at-bats against John Lackey. That's good for a .333 batting average.

Lyle Overbay needs to be in your lineup if the Brewers are smart, read the matchups, and understand that he crushes Aaron Harang. Why is Aaron Harang starting for the Braves? Why is Lyle Overbay starting for the Brewers? Is it 2009? Overbay has 11 hits, including six for extra bases, in 24 at-bats in the matchup (.458 average). Teammate Aramis Ramirez also crushes Harang with a .333 mark, five homers and 11 RBIs in 63 at-bats.

Angel Pagan has started off the season going 3-for-9 with two RBIs. He faces Trevor Cahill Wednesday, a man who he has produced seven hits in 18 at-bats against (.389).

Justin Smoak has like 113 RBIs in his first two games this season. He also has two hits in two at-bats against Hector Santiago.

It's only eight at-bats, but Dayan Viciedo has five hits, including a homer, against Kevin Correia. Why is Correia starting? Oh yeah, the Twins stink.

DISH DISASTERS – Worst Hitting Matchups of the Day

Dexter Fowler has four hits in 21 at-bats against Hiroki Kuroda, and he's only walked one time.

Eric Hosmer has only five hits in 25 at-bats versus Max Scherzer. He's whiffed eight times as well. Mike Moustakas should be on the bench too – he's even worse at .130 in 23 at-bats.

Two Orioles need to be out of your lineup against John Lackey. Adam Jones has 11 strikeouts and is only batting .238 in 42 at-bats against the righty. The other to bench is Matt Wieters who is hitting a sickly .167 in 30 at-bats.

You would think that facing Edwin Jackson would lead to a lot of hits for the Pirates. It very well might, but history suggests that three Pirates are dreadful plays as all three have only two hits in 15 at-bats against the continually disappointing righty: Neil Walker, Pedro Alvarez and Russell Martin.

Colby Rasmus has five Ks and just one hit in 10 at-bats against Matt Moore. He had 42 KS in 124 at-bats against lefties last year with a .712 OPS.

Will Venable has had no success versus Dan Haren with one hit in 13 at-bats (four strikeouts).

MOUND MAVENS – Starting Pitchers to Target

Dan Haren had a 3.52 ERA and barely a 1.00 WHIP in the second half last season. He faces a Padres clubs that he has posted a 7.4 K/BB ratio against. He also pitches at Petco which is never a bad thing. In 61.2 innings at the park he has a 1.22 WHIP and has 58 Ks. The only downside is that he's surprisingly allowed eight homers in San Diego.

Tim Hudson has history on his side versus the D'backs. Pretty remarkable really. In 11 career starts he's 7-1 with a 2.18 ERA and 1.06 WHIP. He's also crushed it at Chase Field with a 4-1 record, 1.87 ERA and 1.08 WHIP in six stats. Plug and play.

Edwin Jackson merely needs to avoid getting beat my Andrew McCutchen. Remove him from the mix and the other 109 at-bats by the Pirates against EJax have led to one homer, five RBIs an a .193 average. Are you feeling lucky punk?

Hiroki Kuroda has allowed one homer in 56 at-bat against the Astros leading to a .214 batting average.

Matt Moore had a rough spring, but in his brief career he's handled the Blue Jays well. Check out the slash line that includes just one homer in 78 at-bats: .205/.337/.256.

Hector Santiago has allowed three hits in 23 at-bats to the Mariners (two are by J. Smoak). The game between the Angels and Mariners will be played in Anaheim

MOUND MESSES – Starting Pitchers to Avoid

In limited work the Athletics have hammered Zach McAllister. They've produced 21 hits in 60 at-bats, that's a .350 average, leading to an .883 OPS.

Mark Buehrle faces the Rays and they have hit .280 against him. Remove the 14-for-74 ownage he has over the injured David DeJesus and that number leaps to .333. He also has a 5.49 ERA over 11 starts at the Trop.

Matt Garza has a 6.43 ERA and 1.79 WHIP in three career starts vs. the Braves. He had an 8.80 ERA and 2.35 WHIP in five springs outings. Avoid him today.


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