Josh Beckett is one-half of the Cy Young contenders pitching matchup on Friday in the Fens.

Series of the Week – Early Edition
Minnesota Twins at Seattle Mariners – Monday through Wednesday

Are they contenders or pretenders? For the Twins, right now pretenders, as they sit at .500 as of this writing, looking up at far too many teams to be considered contenders. For the Mariners, however, they lead the Wild Card standings at 64-50 and they trail the Angels by just 3.5 games in the American League West.

The marquee matchup of the series is the first game, as Johan Santana takes the mound for the Twins while Felix Hernandez does so for the Mariners. While still solid, Santana has not been as brilliant as usual in the second half as he is in the first, with a record of 2-3 and a 3.69 ERA in his six starts since the All-Star break. The problem has definitely not been his control numbers, though, as he has 45 strikeouts and nine walks in that time. As for Hernandez, he has not been very “King”-like in his six starts since the break, going 3-2 with a 4.50 ERA and a 34:11 K/BB ratio.

The hitter to watch for the Mariners is the red hot Jose Vidro. After hitting just .286 with three homers and 26 RBI in 80 games before the break, almost all as the Designated Hitter, Vidro has been doing his best Edgar Martinez impression since the break, with a .388 batting average, one home run, and 16 RBI in 26 games. Over on the Twins side of things, the hitter to watch is Rondell White, also known as Ron-DL. White had been out from April 4 through July 23, and he is showing the Twins since his return that they were better off without him. In 30 at-bats since returning from the disabled list, White is hitting only .167 with no runs and only one RBI. The Twins probably could have used their batboy at DH and received similar productivity. The Twins need to either get White hitting or give his at-bats to someone else if they are going to compete.

Series of the Week – Weekend Edition
Los Angeles Angels at Boston Red Sox

A matchup with major playoff implications for both teams, as while both might lead their divisions, both have a surging team closer behind them than they would like – the Mariners in the AL West and the Yankees in the AL East. This series is four games thanks to a day-night doubleheader kicking things off on Friday, with Josh Beckett and John Lackey your likely afternoon starters, and two of your leaders in the Cy Young chase. Lackey has been brilliant for much of this year and is 15-6 with a 3.07 ERA in 24 starts, with 126 strikeouts and 43 walks in 161 1/3 innings. Beckett has been just as good, with a record of 15-5 with a 3.24 ERA, and he has 140 strikeouts and 29 walks in 147 1/3 innings.

The hitter to watch for the Red Sox is J.D. Drew. Drew’s first half struggles have carried over to the second half, as he is hitting just .263 with no homers, 11 RBI, and 14 runs in 23 games since the break. Drew is definitely not living up to the big contract he signed. Drew will be happy to see the Angels again, though; in six games against the Angels, Drew has a .350 batting average, three RBI, and four runs. For the Angels, the hitter we are spotlighting is Casey Kotchman, who has been on a tear of late. For the month of August, Kotchman is hitting .394 with six RBI and seven runs in 33 at-bats.