The Yankees are facing off against the Athletics this week who begin their 10 game road trip with 3 games in the Bronx. The A’s are on a bit of a hot streak lately as they have won 4 of their last 6 games against the Orioles and Blue Jays and will need that hot streak to continue this week as the Yankees own them. This season alone the Yankees are 5-1 against the A’s, and have won 26 of the past 31 games these two teams have played. These games seem somewhat meaningless as Oakland is not in contention for the postseason, but if the Yankees can continue to beat up on the easy teams they may just win the Division to secure home field advantage during the post season.
One thing that I do find worthwhile to watch about these games is the Oakland pitching. There has been some talks that the Yankees have some interest in Rich Harden and may try to acquire him at some point in the offseason. Also, Tuesday’s starter Brendan McCarthy will be a free agent at the end of this season and I have a feeling the Yankees may keep an eye on him as well. Both Harden and McCarthy could be a good fit with the Yankees… for the right price.
A LOOK AT THE A'S
-The Yankees need to pitch around Matsui as much as possible. Last time these teams met, Matsui went 7-13 with a home run and two doubles. Since the All Star Break, he is hitting .372 with a .434 on base percentage.
-Josh Willingham is the A’s offensive powerhouse and leads the team in most offenseive categories. He’s also on a hot streak as he has hit 9 home runs over his last 22 games. Willingham is tied with Jacoby Ellsbury for the most home runs in the AL since the All Star Break with 11.
-Jemile Weeks & Coco Crisp are the speedy duo stealing bases for the A’s. Crisp has 37 steals and Weeks has 14. Although Weeks only has 14, he has only played in 64 games this year. Weeks would be a good Rookie of the Year candidate as he is batting .289 with a .319 on base percentage, but he hasn’t played in enough games.
-The A’s bullpen is solidified with a mix of 3 solid pitchers shutting down the last few innings. Andrew Bailey is their close and he has converted his last 8 saves. Grant Balfour and Brian Fuentes are used in tandem to set up Bailey.
STARTING PITCHERS
Brendan McCarthy (6-6, 3.74 ERA) vs. Bartolo Colon (8-7, 3.54 ERA)
-Colon is coming off his first loss since July 19 but the loss wasn’t entirely his fault as this was the blown home run call game against Kansas City. The blown call allowed the Royals to win the game 5-4. Although the Billy Butler home run contributed to the loss, Colon wasn’t at his sharpest and has caused many to be concerned with his stamina during the second half. In his last 3 games, Colon is 0-1 with a 5.17 ERA and only 9 strikeouts.
-McCarthy is a big pitcher at 6’ 7’’ and will be using that size to throw fastballs at the Yankees. He uses both a 2 and 4 seamer that sit in the low 90’s and has been using them with his Cutter to force ground balls. McCarthy also will throw his curveball often which has been effective for him. He does have a slider and changeup as well, but doesn’t throw them very frequently as they aren’t terribly effective pitches for him
-McCarthy is 2-1 with a 4.67 ERA and 8 strikeouts in his last 3 games and is coming off a win against Baltimore after allowing 8 hits and 4 runs over 6 innings. Although not a dominant performance, he gave the A’s a chance to win the game.
-Watch out for Tex and Swish against McCarthy as they are hitting .600 and .429 against him respectively, and each have a home run against him.
Trevor Cahill (9-12, 4.17 ERA) vs. CC Sabathia (17-7, 2.96 ERA)
-CC just got his 17th win of the season against the Twins this past weekend allowing only 3 earned runs in the process. He seems to be getting through his little second half slump and with a struggling A’s offense, he could find his stride again Wednesday.
-CC is 1-2 with a 6.43 ERA and 22 strikeouts over his last 3 starts.
-Cahill is coming off a tough loss against Toronto last week after allowing 7 runs on 5 hits while striking out only 2 over 5 1/3 innings. His numbers against the Yankees aren’t much better as he is 0-4 and has allowed 28 runs in 18 innings pitched.
-Cahill basically uses a mix of a sinker and fastball, although he throws in a changeup mixed in as well. Used effectively they will induce a lot of ground balls. Used ineffectively, the Yankees will hit him all night long. Cahill will also throw a slider, but not too often.
-Watch out for the middle of the order against Cahill as Tex is hitting .600 against him with 1 homer, Arod is hitting .667 off him with 2 homers and Cano is hitting .500 off him with one home run. Posada is also a .500 hitter against Cahill.
Rich Harden (4-2, 3.91 ERA) vs. Phil Hughes (4-4, 5.75 ERA)
-Hughes looked incredible during his last start and is making a strong case to become the #2 starter for the Yankees in the postseason. He only allowed 1 run over 7 2/3 innings against the Twins this past Friday night. The Twins were only able to get two hits off Hughes the whole night, one of which was a early home run. Hughes settled down and retired the last 22 of 27 batters he faced to get the win.
-Hughes has been getting stronger and strong since coming back from the DL. Over his last three games he is 2-1 with a 2.57 ERA and 8 strikeouts.
-Harden is coming off a very strong start against Toronto after striking out a career high 11 batters and allowing only 2 hits. His last three games have actually all been strong and he is 2-1 with a 2.50 ERA and 23 strikeouts over these last three games.
-Harden pitched well against the Yankees during their last series and allowed 2 runs over 5.2 innings, but threw too many pitches and had to be pulled early.
-Harden relies on his fastball mains throwing it more than 50% of the time and mixes it with his changeup. He has also been using a splitter lately with success, and although he throws a slider, its not used often
-Watch out for the #2 - #4 batters as Granderson is hitting .333 against harden with 1 home run, Texeira is hitting .444 off him with a home run and Arod is hitting .556 off Harden.
