Pitching Matchups;Game of the Day 6/28/11

6:00pm
New Britain Rock Cats (Liam Hendriks 7-2, 2.81) GAME 1
vs. Portland Sea Dogs (Alex Wilson 6-4, 2.92)

New Britain Rock Cats (Blake Martin 1-1, 12.96) GAME 2
vs. Portland Sea Dogs (Chris Balcom-Miller 1-3, 3.80)

7:00pm
Connecticut Tigers (Luis Angel Sanz 1-1, 5.79)
vs. Tri-City ValleyCats (Juri Perez 0-1, 4.00)

7:05pm
Rochester Red Wings (Andy Baldwin 4-5, 5.14)
vs. Pawtucket Red Sox (Kevin Millwood 3-0, 2.89)

New Hampshire Fisher Cats (Jesse Litsch 0-0, 0.00)
vs. Trenton Thunder (Manny Banuelos 3-1, 3.50)

Vermont Lake Monsters (Seth Frankoff 0-1, 2.38)
vs. Lowell Spinners (Michael Lee 0-1, 2.35)

Game of the Day – Rock Cats vs. Sea Dogs (GAME 1)– As tempted as I was to pick the Vermont/Lowell matchup (because I will be there this evening), I couldn’t ignore the great pitching matchup going down in Portland this evening. Sure, these might be two teams heading in opposite directions this season and sure, last night was an absolute blowout in favor of the Rock Cats, but when you get two quality pitchers going at it, things find a way to balance out. Rock Cats’ starter Liam Hendriks, fresh off of his selection to the Futures Game, comes into the game tied for second in the league in wins (7), sixth in ERA (2.81), seventh in WHIP (1.17) and ninth in strikeouts (70). Hendriks has one start on the season versus Portland back on April 17th where he allowed 5 runs on 5 hits in 5 innings of work, collecting a loss in the process. Portland’s Alex Wilson is tied for third in the league in wins (6), eighth in ERA (2.92), fifth in WHIP (1.15) and tenth in strikeouts (67). Wilson has two starts against New Britain this season, both back in early May when he combined for 11 1/3 innings, allowed only 3 earned runs and 5 hits while striking out 12 batters, but picked up a 0-1 record in the process. The Rock Cats hold a very unbalanced 12-5 edge in the season series against the Sea Dogs.

Side note: We will be live from LeLacheur Park in Lowell tonight where Michael Lee gets his third rehab start with the Spinners against the Lake Monsters' Seth Frankoff, in what is one of many strong pitching matchups (see also New Hampshire v. Trenton) on tonight's slate. Barring any major computer problems we will try to keep a running blog going and you can also follow along @BeyondFenway on Twitter.

To listen to any of the above games live, click here: