Baseball Press presents "The 606", a look at the most intriguing pitching matchup of the day, with a final prediction of the winning pitcher. You may be asking yourself "What exactly does The 606 mean? There's no major league baseball for that area code- it's in Eastern Kentucky!" BBP isn't listing players from Eastern Kentucky either. The 606 is short for 60 feet and 6 inches. If you still don't understand, I direct your attention to Official Rule 1.07 from Major League Baseball, referring to the distance from the pitching mound to home plate. Now that we've got that squared away, let's take a look at today's featured pitching matchup for Friday, July 23rd.

Yesterday, Cliff Lee notched his first victory as a Texas Ranger by working into the 9th inning and outdueling Jered Weaver .  He helped extend the Rangers' lead in the AL West and lowered his season ERA to 2.56.

Win: Cliff Lee (8.1 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, 0.58 WHIP)

The 606 Season-to-Date Record (W-L-ND): 88-76-50, 3.85 ERA (566 ER in 1324.1 IP)

Niemann and the Rays take on Carmona and the Tribe. (AP)

Today's 606 travels to the home of Drew Carey and the Rock 'N Roll Hall of Fame for a matchup between the AL East contending Tampa Bay Rays and the AL Central bottom-dwelling Cleveland Indians.  A pair of finesse pitchers toe the mound for each team, which could mean a lot of batted balls and stranded runners to kick-start the weekend.

RHP Jeff Niemann - TB (8-2, 2.92 ERA) vs. RHP Fausto Carmona - CLE (9-7, 3.65 ERA)
There's a lot to like about Jeff Niemann and what he has done for the Rays rotation in 2010, and for good reason.  With some stumbles from the likes of James Shields, Wade Davis, and even Matt Garza, Niemann and teammate David Price have been one of the better 1-2 rotation combos in the league this season.  Both boast sub-3.00 ERAs and are on pace for win totals in the high teens and, not surprisingly, both were high first round draft choices.  Unlike Price and his heater, however, Niemann's success is more a result of his off-speed pitches than his low-90s fastball.  Furthermore, Niemann's 90 strikeouts in 123.1 innings this season (6.6 K/9) is a slight improvement over his ratio from last year (when he led the Rays with 13 wins), and is a testament to his ability to pitch to contact and allow his defense to make plays for him.  He's well on his way to another excellent season, and the Rays are pushing for a playoff spot yet again as they take on the Indians on Friday.  Niemann has faced Cleveland twice already this year, getting a no decision in both games and allowing 6 runs and 16 hits in 11 innings of work- numbers certainly not in line with his exceptional overall season stats.  Also, his road ERA is 3.41 in 9 starts this year (compared to 2.44 in 10 home outings), so that may factor in to his performance as well.

It seems like so long ago that Fausto Carmona made like the folklore protagonist Faust and (presumably) made a deal with some dark forces for a totally unexpected 19-8 season.  The year was 2007, and Carmona's career took a massive downturn after that season.  This year, however, Carmona is putting in a very respectable season, and the 23 year-old hurler enters play on Friday with a 9-7 record, a 3.65 ERA, and a 1.31 WHIP, all pretty respectable numbers.  Carmona's strikeout numbers are ridiculously low, yet he finds success by inducing groundballs with his sinker and relying on pitch location.  He's faced the Rays twice this season and is 1-0 with 4 runs, 10 hits, 5 walks, and 11 strikeouts in 13.1 total innings, good for a 2.70 ERA and 1.13 WHIP.  That victory came pretty recently in a 9-3 victory over James Shields on July 9th.  The current crop of Rays hitters has hit a combined 18 for 99 (.182) lifetime against Carmona, so that certainly bodes well for him in this start.

Final Prediction: Fausto Carmona