The Yankees return home today for a ten game homestand starting with the Oakland A’s. After the last 8 games on the road playing on astroturf, I’m sure the Yankees are looking forward to a long homestand to get back on track. The road trip following the All Star Break hasn’t been great for the Yankees as they have split two 4 game series with Toronto & Tampa. There have been some highlights during these games, but there has also been a number of games where sloppy defense has cost them games.
Looking ahead, the Yanks play the A’s and the Mariners over the next week which should bring them some wins. The A’s who are 17-33 on the road, come to the Bronx tonight in hopes of getting a win in Yankee stadium for the first time since July 25, 2009. They have lost the last 12 of 13 games against the Yankees in Yankee stadium, and the last time these two teams met the Yankees swept three games in Oakland. Since then, the A's have fired their manager due to poor performance.
Right now, the Yankees have a 10 game winning streak against Oakland. The A’s had an off day Thursday following a series against Detroit where they split two games & prior to the Detroit series, the A’s swept the Angels outscoring them 20 to 11 over the 4 game set, showing a little offensive life.
STARTING PITCHERS
Friday: Trevor Cahill (8-8, 3.16 ERA) vs. Phil Hughes (1-2, 8.44 ERA)
-Hughes comes into the game following a big win against the Blue Jays earlier this week. He pitched 6 innings allowing only 2 runs and striking out 5 for the win, and used a new type of curve ball in the process. Overall he looked sharp compared to his previous start. Although his first start back from the DL had similar numbers (5IP, 2 runs), this week’s performance showed more control and consistency along with velocity that is considered ‘healthy’ for Hughes.
-Hughes is 2-0 against the A’s with a 1.62 ERA all-time.
-Trevor Cahill is looking to get his first career win against the Yankees as he is 0-3 against them in 3 starts. In those three starts he has allowed 18 earned runs over 16 2/3 innings pitched. Last season, Cahill pitched against the Yanks in Yankee stadium in the first game of a 4 game sweep by the Yankees, allowing 8 runs over 4 innings
-Texeira is 4 – 8 against Cahill with 2 Home Runs
-Cano is 4 – 9 against Cahill with 1 Home Run
Saturday: Rich Harden (1-1, 5.00 ERA) vs. AJ Burnett (8-7, 4.19 ERA)
-AJ had a rough start in his last outing allowing 3 runs over the first 2 innings but settled in after that a bit to keep the Yankees in the game. Burnett allowed a season high 6 walks in the start.
-Burnett is 0-1 over his last 3 starts with a 5.00 ERA and 19 strikeouts
-Harden is coming off his first start for Oakland in three years following his reinstatement from the 60 day DL. He pitched six strong innings, allowing two runs and four hits while striking out six batters. Overall it was a good return from Harden who used a strong fastball to retired the first 16 of 18 batters he faced.
-Harden has not pitched a complete season since 2004 due to injuries and has been on the DL 10 times over his career.
Sunday: Gio Gonzalez (9-6, 2.33 ERA) vs. Bartolo Colon (6-6, 3,34 ERA)
-Colon quieted the critics in his last start showing that he is not injured and looking ahead to the second half. In his start against Tampa he threw 6 shutout innings with a season high 9 Strikeouts. Read more about that Start HERE
-Colon is 0-3 over his last three starts with a 6.39 ERA, but it looks as though Colon is back on track following the DL stint.
-David Dejesus is batting .545 against Colon with 2 Home Runs.
-Gio Gonzalez is coming off a strong start against the Angels of 7 innings of shutout ball. Gonzalez allowed only 4 hits and struck out 8.
-Gonzalez is one of the few bright spots for this Oakland team as he boasts the 5th best ERA in the AL and was named to the All Star Team. He uses a combination of fastballs, curveballs and changeups relying most heavily on the fastball.
-Gonzalez has lost his last three starts against the Yankees, allowing 14 earned runs with 14 walks over 14 2/3 innings pitched
YANKEES NOTES
-Jeter has been slumping lately and over the last seven games Jeter is hitting .200. Girardi has considered bumping him from lead off when facing righties as he did last night. Against lefties though, Jeter is hitting .325 with a .419 on base percentage so I would guess that Jeter would remain as leadoff batter against lefties.
-Soriano pitched against Thursday in a rehab game for Class-A Tampa allowing one run on 2 hits over a single inning. Soriano had also pitched Wednesday, as the Yankees want him to be durable enough to pitch back to back days. It’s likely he could be activated by the middle of next week
-Chavez played third-base for the first time in Class-A Tampa Thursday, and went 1-3 on the day with an RBI Double.
A’S NOTES
-The Yankees welcome back Hideki Matsui tonight into Yankee stadium. Matsui just hit his 500th career home run! (including home runs in Japanese league)
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