Florida Marlins at San Francisco Giants, 4 PM ET (Game 2)

It looks like the righthander Ponson will start game 2. The Marlins have very few potent lefthanded bats (even on the bench) and so Ponson is a solid choice. Rueter wouldn't be a bad choice, either: he'd be a good bet to shut off the running game, and it's hard for the Marlins to generate runs in other ways.

It didn't have a large impact on the game, but the automatic walk to Bonds with the bases empty and two outs in the 8th was a bit much. By all means pitch him carefully - at least you'd have a shot at getting the out.

Brad Penny walks significantly more lefthanded batters, but otherwise has a minimal left-right split. Bonds will most likely be walked 3 times out of 5 plate appearances and the Giants have three other lefties that draw walks. Prediction: if Penny walks more than 4 guys he's going to lose.

notes: OBP is calculated without including sac flies (H+W+HBP)/(AB+W+HBP); player in red indicates the batter is at a platoon disadvantage.

The Giants go with the same lineup. Is Jose Cruz in Felipe's doghouse?

Patient lefhanded hitters can draw walks against Ponson, but the Marlins have only one batter who fits that description (Luis Castillo). The conclusion I draw from the data is that Ponson goes after righthanded batters and is very careful against lefties. Last night off Schmidt, the Fish could do nothing more than hit flyballs to rightfield (only Pudge was able to make good contact on those). Ponson will be more hittable, and we'll see if Florida's righhanded mashers can find the gaps.

notes: OBP is calculated without including sac flies (H+W+HBP)/(AB+W+HBP); player in red indicates the batter is at a platoon disadvantage.

Florida goes with the same lineup, and should have more success than they did yesterday. I'd like to see Encarnacion and Conine batting ahead of Cabrera.