Thursday's Games of the Day

Thirteen games are slated for Thursday as the last two weeks of Interleague Play begin to wind down. I've highlighted nine of those games. John Smoltz's Red Sox debut, Chad Billingsley's quest for his 10th win, the pitching matchup at Citi Field, and a hot Derek Lee punctuate those highlights. Chicago Cubs at Detroit: The Tigers go for the sweep of the Cubbies on Thursday. Ted Lilly and a resurgent Derek Lee look to halt Detroit's winning streak at six games. Lee is hitting .373 in June with 6 home runs, 18 RBI, and a hit in every game from May 30 to the present (20 games). Lilly hasn't lost since May 24. St. Louis at New York Mets: This game features the best pitching matchup of the night as Chris Carpenter and Johan Santana take the mound. Also, we get to see Albert Pujols face off against Santana. Pujols has 2 homers and 9 RBI in 18 at-bats against the Mets this season. Carpenter has a 5.09 career ERA against the Mets. An interesting note, Luis Castillo is hitting .357 since dropping that pop fly against the Yankees; he's also a career .300 hitter against Carpenter. Los Angeles Dodgers at Chicago White Sox: Chad Billingsley looks to join Roy Halladay and Kevin Slowey in the 10-win club in his second attempt at 10 wins. He'll get his chance against Clayton Richard and the White Sox. Billingsley is 2-0 with a 3.86 ERA in his last three starts.