GAME 56 PREVIEW: After a weekend of futility against the Minnesota Twins pitching staff — which included facing two starters with the worst and second worst ERA’s in the league — now King Felix comes to town. Just what the Yankees need, huh? Insult to injury, old buddy Phil Hughes just waxed our collective posteriors, and now this? What would have been nice was a day off to fuggitabout everything for a minute, clear some heads and regroup.
Today was a scheduled off-day for the Yanks, but the April 29th rain-out in versus the Mariners in New York ruined that idea.
Felix Hernandez is on a roll, with four straight wins and a 7-1 mark. The Mariners are playing better than generally expected with a 28-28 record , only 2.5 games behind the Yank’s 29-26 mark. Their second-baseman, can’t recall his name, may miss tonight’s contest due to a bone bruise on his left hand which caused him to miss the last three Seattle games.
A RAY OF HOPE: Too bad Mark Teixeira won’t be in the lineup. He’s clubbed 5 HRs in 64 AB’s against Hernandez, with a .297 BA. Guys who also hit well against The King (all with 20+ at-bats) are Brett Gardner .375, Brian Roberts .364, and Jacoby Ellsbury .320. Hey, you never know! That said, and the fact that while Toronto is on an incredible run — the Yank’s are only two back in the all-important loss column. Just. Have. To. Start. Hitting.
On New York’s slumping offense, manager Joe Girardi was quoted:
“These are the guys we have and they’ve got to find a way to get it done. We’ve got to be able to score more runs.”
Here’s the announced lineup:
Brett Gardner (LF)
Derek Jeter (SS)
Jacoby Ellsbury (CF)
Brian McCann (C)
Yangervis Solarte (3B)
Alfonso Soriano (DH)
Ichiro Suzuki (RF)
Brian Roberts (2B)
Kelly Johnson (1B)
David Phelps (P)
Let’s Go Yan-kees!
