Aug. 9th Ogando (11-5) Vs. Pineda (9-7) preview

A Duel of the young bloods today. Michael Pineda is on the bump today for the Mariners, sporting a 3.53 ERA (Outstanding for a rookie might I add) and an overpowering mid 90's fastball. Don't expect to see too many long balls from the Rangers today, even in their hitter friendly park, as Pineda has given up only 12 HR's in his 21 career starts (though he does play in the monstrous confines of SafeCo Field.) Razor sharp command of his pitches has kept his walk total down to 43 (respectable, especially for a wiley young hurler who prefers to blow it by you) with opposing hitters only hitting .205 against him. But enough about these Mariners, lets talk about Ogando.
Alexei Ogando and Pineda pitch a similar game. Overpowering fastballs, but Ogando's is just a bit more overpowering, seeing as he claims a surprisingly low 2.88 ERA in his 21 big league starts this year. His lines are almost identical to Pineda, with 32 walks this year to go with an opponents average of .217. He is more of a flyball pitcher, which in Arlington, can be somewhat hazardous when big bats come to the plate, but he's kept his HR total down to a surprisingly low 11 this year.
So how do we account for the ERA differential if these 2 guys are so similar in almost every way? The double play ball. Rangers pitching leads the league in turning double plays. Every hit has the deadly potential for being 2 outs, and with an infield like the Rangers have (ignore the horrible fielding % and the absence of Adrian Beltre), not much gets past these guys, except maybe down the third base line now that Michael Young is back to his old position in which his range isn't suited for, but that's another subject for another rant.
First pitch is 7:05 PM CST. Don't miss this pitchers duel.