spoiling pennant chases

The Astros knocked off the Cardinals again yesterday, 2-1, dropping St. Louis to 3 games behind the Cubs in the NL Central standings, but today they'll be traveling to Chicago to see if they can mess with the Cubs playoff hopes a little. Also, this will be Biggio's final opportunity to get hit by a pitch at Wrigley Field, where he's been hit 12 times before. Wrigley Field sounds like an excellent place to end his current 38 game plunkless streak.

Today, Sean Marshall pitches for the Cubs. He's in his 2nd season in the league, which is a popular time for young pitchers to plunk Biggio, but at 6'7" he's slightly taller than the average plunker of Biggio, and he's also more left-handed than the average plunked of Biggio. Marshall has hit 8 batters in his career, but just one this season.

Ten years ago, James Baldwin plunked Biggio in Chicago on August 31, 1997 but that was at Comiskey Park (II) for the White Sox. Jake Peavy plunked Biggio for the Padres on August 31, 2003.

If Biggio does not get hit by a pitch today, this will be his first August with 0 HBPs since 2000. He only played one game that month, but he didn't get plunked in August 1999 either.