Showing posts with label Series. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Series. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Pitching matchups for the Diamondbacks Series

HomeZell’s Pinstripe ForumSponsorLinksAboutContact UsZell's Pinstripe BlogA blog about the best franchise in all of sportsFeeds:PostsCommentsPitching matchups for the Diamondbacks SeriesJune 21, 2010 by Kevin Rozell

The Yankees hit the road (the start of a 6-game road trip) and open up a three-game series tonight against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Here are the pitching probables for the series:

Mon: RHP A.J. Burnett (6-5, 4.33) vs RHP Rodrigo Lopez (2-6, 4.70)

Tues: LHP Andy Pettitte (8-2, 2.47) vs RHP Dan Haren (7-5, 4.71)

Wed: RHP Javier Vazquez (6-5, 5.01) vs LHP Dontrelle Willis (2-2, 4.78)



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Saturday, June 5, 2010

The Series Ahead: Yankees @ Blue Jays

Yankees vs. Blue JaysRogers Centre
(3 Game Series)




Ladies and Gentlemen the New York Yankees are back. After a tough stretch of games where they played division rivals, division leaders, and their cross town rivals the Yankees came home and beat up on some bad teams taking 6 out of 7 games at home. It could have been 7 of 7 if not for one bullpen implosion. The Yanks managed their tough stretch, took their time and got healthy, and besides Nick Johnson the lineup is ready to go.

The Toronto Blue Jays have been the surprise team in the AL East this season, despite hitting a wall recently for a good part of the first two months they sat in third place in the East when many "experts" thought they would be even worse than the Orioles. Despite some recent struggles due to a more difficult schedule the Blue Jays have proven to be a formidable opponent whom can hit and pitch. The word around the league this year has been that the ball is flying out of the ballpark in Toronto where the Blue Jays have hit 49 so far this year. Toronto may be a better team than many predicted, but at some point they will come back to earth and with back to back to back series with the Rays and Yankees that time could be now.

With the Yankees on a roll this may be the perfect opportunity to get Alex Rodriguez going. While he has been playing better of late he must feel very comfortable in the Rogers Centre. In 89 career games in Toronto he has hit .303 with 32 HR's and 86 RBI. Those numbers are absurdly good. If Alex Rodriguez could go on a hot streak and carry this team for a week or so it would be perfect timing. Robinson Cano, Derek Jeter, and Nick Swisher have been playing out of this world for the last two weeks and are bound to slow down. It's time for someone else to step up and that person very well may be A-rod.

The Yankees are in a good place right now. We sit just 2 games back in the AL East and while it may be to early to look the Yankees lead the Wild Card race. However right now is the perfect stretch to make a move on the Rays. The Yankees will face the Blue Jays for three, the Orioles for three, followed by the Astros for three before they meet the Phillies at the stadium. With solid play the Yankees should make up some ground on the Rays over that stretch. It starts tonight in Toronto.

Matchups

Game 1: Tonight

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Monday, May 31, 2010

Series Preview: Cleveland Indians

HomeZell’s Pinstripe ForumSponsorLinksAboutContact UsZell's Pinstripe BlogA blog about the best franchise in all of sportsFeeds:PostsComments Series Preview: Cleveland IndiansMay 28, 2010 by Rob Bradley

After a series win, the Yankees roll into Cleveland feeling better than they have in a while. This series is slated to be 4 games, so we’ll see most of Cleveland’s rotation and have a pretty good idea of where they are at.



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Monday, May 24, 2010

Subway Series Preview: Yankees, Mets Try To Get Back on Track

Coming off three straight losses to division rivals, the Yankees must regain their focus for the circus that is the Subway Series.

The Bombers conclude a stretch of 17 games in as many days with three against the Mets at Citi Field in Queens.

New York's National League team got off to a hot start, winning eight in a row to climb into first place and finish April at 14-9, but when the calendar flipped to May, the Mets' began to go downhill.

They're now in last place in the NL East at 20-22 and are really struggling offensively, ranking 13th in the league in average (.246) and OPS (.705), and 14th in on-base percentage (.320).

The pitching, meanwhile, has kept the Mets afloat, and while it was better in April than in May, it does set up three evenly-matched pairings for this weekend.

 

Friday, May 21 - Javier Vazquez (2-4, 8.01) vs. Hisanori Takahashi (3-1, 3.12)

It took Vazquez one-third of an inning in relief on Monday to double his win total from his previous six starts.

After he finally pitched well during a seven-inning, two-run effort against the Tigers on May 12, the Yankees decided to pull him out of the rotation for nine days. I guess they were going with the successful Joba Chamberlain approach on that one.

Vazquez returns to the rotation on Friday versus the Mets, a team against which he is 9-8 with a 3.37 ERA in 23 starts. The right-hander has never pitched at Citi Field, but he was 4-4 with a 3.53 ERA in 11 outings at Shea Stadium.

This should be Vazquez's time to shine as he went 15-10 with a 2.87 mark dealing against mostly NL East opponents last year for the Braves, a stark contrast from his career 4.65 ERA in the American League.

But the Mets' roster hits .317 off the 33-year-old. Luis Castillo is 26-for-72 (.361), Alex Cora is 8-for-21 (.381), Gary Matthews Jr. is 6-for-10 (.600) and David Wright is 3-for-8 (.375).

Henry Blanco, however, is 4-for-20 (.200), Rod Barajas is 2-for-15 (.133) with five strikeouts, Jose Reyes is 3-for-13 (.231) and Jason Bay is 2-for-12 (.167) with five K's.

Takahashi has the daunting task of making his first Major League start against the Bronx Bombers. The left-hander has made 15 relief appearances during his rookie season, yielding 22 hits with 14 walks and 33 strikeouts in 26 innings.

 

Saturday, May 22 - Phil Hughes (5-0, 2.25) vs. Mike Pelfrey (5-1, 3.02)

Hughes had his first slip-up of the year in his last outing, when he surrendered five runs in five innings against the Red Sox. He still ranks third in the AL in ERA and WHIP (0.98), and hasn't lost yet.

The right-hander has pitched 2 1/3 scoreless innings versus the Mets in his career. Bay is 1-for-6 (.167) off him with four strikeouts and Matthews is 1-for-4 (.250) with a double, while Barajas, Cora and Jeff Francoeur are a combined 0-for-4.

Like Hughes, Pelfrey has been a nice surprise for the Mets this season, but he has come back down to earth of late. After a 4-0, 0.69 April, the righty won for the first time in May his last time out, when he yielded two runs over 7 2/3 innings at Atlanta.

The 26-year-old is dealing with some shoulder stiffness and should face a stiff test when he goes up against the Yankees, a team he has faced twice, posting a 1-1 record and a 5.40 ERA.

Mark Teixeira is 4-for-13 (.308) off Pelfrey, while Alex Rodriguez (2-for-4), Derek Jeter (1-for-3), Brett Gardner (2-for-3) and Ramiro Pena (2-for-2, two doubles) have all had success in limited action.

However, Randy Winn is 1-for-10 (.100) with three strikeouts, Robinson Cano is 1-for-6 (.167) and Francisco Cervelli is 0-for-3.

 

Sunday, May 23 - CC Sabathia (4-2, 3.43) vs. Johan Santana (3-2, 3.72)

The marquee pitching matchup of the series comes Sunday night. After his worst start of the year - a six-run, six-inning effort at Detroit - Sabathia rebounded to hold the Red Sox to just one run on four hits over seven frames in his last outing.

The big lefty has pitched very well in two career starts against the Mets, winning both games with a 1.20 ERA. Both of those outings came on the road with one at Shea and the other at Citi.

Matthews is 5-for-26 (.192) with 10 strikeouts versus Sabathia, Castillo is 4-for-19 (.211), Bay is 1-for-9 (.111) and Cora and Wright are each 0-for-3.

The only Met who seems to give the southpaw problems is Barajas, who is 8-for-19 (.421) with three homers.

Like Pelfrey, Santana had a much better April (3-1, 2.08) than May (0-1, 5.68), but those latter stats are skewed by the 10 runs he gave up to the Phillies, who may or may not have been using binoculars to steal signs.

The Venezuelan is 4-2 with a 4.40 ERA in 11 games (eight starts) against the Yankees. Marcus Thames should get the day off as he is 4-for-34 (.118) with 13 strikeouts against Santana. The lefty also dominates Teixeira (6-for-26, .231), A-Rod (5-for-23, .217), Winn (4-for-17, .235) and Nick Swisher (3-for-15, .200).

Jeter (11-for-26, .423) and Cano (7-for-17, .412), however, have had success.

 

Follow me on Twitter at JordanHarrison .

Jordan Schwartz is one of Bleacher Report's New York Yankees and College Basketball Featured Columnists. His book Memoirs of the Unaccomplished Man is available at amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, and authorhouse.com.

Jordan can be reached at jordanschwartz2003

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Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Series Preview: Detroit

HomeZell’s Pinstripe ForumSponsorLinksAboutContact UsZell's Pinstripe BlogA blog about the best franchise in all of sportsFeeds:PostsComments Series Preview: DetroitMay 10, 2010 by Rob Bradley

After losing the final game in Boston, the Yankees (and the Red Sox for that matter) are happy they are out of Boston as they go to Detroit for a 4 game series against the Tigers. At the moment it is a battle of second place teams as the Tigers are second in their division behind Minnesota. Lets hope that the Yankees don’t hurt anyone else on this trip.



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Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Another Great Start For AJ, Another Series Win For the Yanks

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Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Matchups for the Yankees-Orioles Series

HomeZell’s Pinstripe ForumSponsorLinksAboutContact UsZell's Pinstripe BlogA blog about the best franchise in all of sportsFeeds:PostsComments Matchups for the Yankees-Orioles SeriesApril 27, 2010 by Rob Bradley



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