Games of the Day - 6/6/11

Update - 6/7/11 @ 12:20 PM: Not a prediction. All four matchups lived up to their billing, and John Danks got his first win. He's a great waiver wire add. Tomlin's recent struggles should be very worrying if he's anything but a low-end option on your fantasy team.

Top pitching matchups tonight (6/6/11):

7:05 pm EST
Dodgers - Lilly (4-4, 4.22)
@ Phillies - Lee (4-5, 3.94)
***Both lefties have struggled to live up to expectations in 2011. Lee recently lost badly to weak-hitting Washington and Jon Lannan. We'll see if his offense can help against a tougher veteran lefty in Lilly.

7:05 pm EST
Athletics - Gonzalez (5-3, 2.49)
Orioles - Matusz (0-0, 1.59)
***Gotta like a matchup of two promising young lefties. Matusz won his first outing on June 1st after a lengthy DL stint. Gonzalez is looking to prove he can maintain consistency as a an above-average fantasy starter.

7:05 pm EST
Twins - Baker (4-2, 3.86)
@ Indians - Tomlin (7-2, 3.27)
***The focus is on Tomlin. He gave up 7 earned runs last week but still beat the Blue Jays. A light-hitting Twins order without Joe Mauer and potentially without table-setter Denard Span would look to get Tomlin back on track. If not, his fantasy status takes a major hit.

8:10 pm EST
Mariners - Pineda (6-2, 2.60)
@ White Sox - Danks (0-8, 5.25)
***Pineda is rolling. Danks looks like he might roll right out of the Sox rotation. Then again, against one of the worst offenses in baseball, this could be his chance to turn things around. The Sox own some slumbering big bats in a small ballpark. Let's see if Pineda can overpower them.

Tweaked Twins land on DL

Catcher Joe Mauer and pitchers Scott Baker and Boof Bonser all ended up on the Twins disabled list to start the season. While Mauer's still dealing with his lower back soreness and hasn't played or practiced all spring, the pitchers' problems sound much more serious.

Baker, who was scheduled to start on Opening Day against the Seattle Mariners, has soreness in his pitching shoulder and was placed on the DL retroactive to March 28. Francisco Liriano is expected to start in place of the righthander on Monday. Bonser is recovering from surgery to repair a torn labrum and rotator cuff in his right shoulder."

Minnesota is looking less and less the favorite to win the AL Central, which should have a razor-thin margin for error with several above-average ball clubs.

Fantasy Impact: Mauer's situation is fairly fluid, and he's fallen down the list of a ton of draft boards. He'll continue to slide outside of the top five catchers now that he's going to miss the start of the season and likely needs some rehab at bats in the minors.

Baker's shoulder soreness is not a good thing, and the mid-level fantasy starter falls into limbo. Bonser had relatively zero fantasy appeal, anyway.