When Dustin McGowan hit the DL, the Yankees thought they were going to get through their final series of the first half without having to face any of the Blue Jays’ best pitchers, but now the Jays have Roy Halladay going tonight and A.J. Burnett going on Sunday. That’s not going to help the Yankees break out of their offensive funk. The Yankees have gone 4-2 against Toronto thus far this season, but their two losses came against Halladay and Burnett and saw the Yankees score a total of 5 runs.
The good news is that the Yanks have Joba Chamberlain and Andy Pettitte opposing those two. Pettitte, who faces Burnett on Sunday, has a 1.82 ERA and a 5-1 record over his last six starts, which includes his stinker against the Red Sox. Since pushing his pitch counts into the 80s with his start against the Astros, Chamberlain, who starts against Halladay tonight, has a 2.22 ERA with 29 Ks in 28 1/3 innings over five starts. The Yankees are 4-1 in those games, though Joba has gotten the decision just once due to the offense’s struggles.
Chamberlain’s only weakness since becoming a starter has been the base on balls, as he has a 5.08 BB/9 over those five starts and has thus only made it past the sixth inning once. That trend started with his first major league start, which came against the Blue Jays at the Stadium and saw the Toronto hitters exploit his pitch limit by taking an inordinate number of pitches. It will be interesting to see if the Jays’ approach differs tonight now that Joba’s no longer on an artificially-low pitch count.
As for Halladay, he’s 1-1 with a 3.46 ERA in two starts against the Yankees this season. He was out-dueled by Chien-Ming Wang on the rain-delayed Opening Day Night, and was the beneficiary of the Jay’s approach against Chamberlain in the start described above. Tonight could be the first of many unencumbered duels between these two AL East aces.
Jorge Posada is finally back behind the plate, as Jason Giambi returns to the lineup as the DH in the American League park, Wilson Betemit slips into Jose Molina’s spot in the lineup at first base, and Brett Gardner returns to the leadoff spot and left field.
If the Yanks can pull out two of three this weekend, it should give the team a boost heading into the break, even if they have to do it with pitching rather than hitting. The Jays have the third-worst offense in the AL and just lost Vernon Wells to the DL with a hamstring strain, so the opportunity is there, but the pressure is on Joba and Andy get it done.
Toronto Blue Jays
2008 Record: 45-47 (.489)
2008 Pythagorean Record: 48-44 (.527)
Manager: Cito Gaston
General Manager: J.P. Ricciardi
Home Ballpark (multi-year Park Factors): Rogers Centre (100/99)
Who’s Replaced Whom:
Adam Lind (minors) replaces Shannon Stewart (DL)
Joe Inglett replaces Aaron Hill (DL) in the lineup
John McDonald (DL) replaces Inglett on the bench
Gregg Zaun (DL) replaces Curtis Thigpen (minors)
John Parrish (minors) replaces Shawn Marcum (DL)
Brian Tallet replaces Dustin McGowan (DL) in the rotation
Brian Wolfe (DL) replaces Tallet in the bullpen
Brandon League (minors) replaces Armando Benitez (minors)
Opening Day Roster:
1B – Lyle Overbay (L)
2B – Joe Inglett (L)
SS – David Eckstein (R)
3B – Scott Rolen (R)
C – Rod Barajas (R)
RF – Brad Wilkerson (R)
CF – Alex Rios (R)
LF – Adam Lind (L)
DH – Matt Stairs (L)
Bench:
R – Marco Scutaro (IF)
R – Kevin Mench (OF)
R – John McDonald (IF)
S – Gregg Zaun (C)
Rotation:
R – Roy Halladay
R – Jesse Litsch
L – Brian Tallet
R – A.J. Burnett
L – John Parrish
Bullpen:
L – B.J. Ryan
L – Scott Downs
R – Jason Frasor
L – Jesse Carlson
R – Shawn Camp
R – Brandon League
R – Brian Wolfe
15-day DL: R – Dustin McGowan, R – Shaun Marcum, R – Jeremy Accardo, R – Vernon Wells (CF), R – Aaron Hill (2B), R – Shannon Stewart (OF)
60-day DL: R – Casey Janssen
Typical Lineup:
L – Joe Inglett (2B)
R – David Eckstein (SS)
R – Alex Rios (CF)
L – Matt Stairs (DH)
R – Rod Barajas (C)
R – Scott Rolen (3B)
L – Brad Wilkerson (RF)
L – Lyle Overbay (1B)
L – Adam Lind (LF)
Update: More good news for Yankee pitchers: Alex Rios will miss the series because his girlfriend is having a baby, so move Wilkerson to center, Inglett to right, and put Scutaro at second base. Overbay moves up to third in the order with Scutaro batting eighth.
