He'll be opposed by Marlins rookie Sean West. The 6'8" southpaw has all of 30 Big League innings to his credit. I've looked at his numbers. On the surface they're good. Digging deeper suggests that he's due for a beating. It didn't happen with John Lannan Wednesday, and I'm not counting on it tonight. We know how this story usually seems to go.
I'm really hoping the comforts of home will help A-Rod out of his slump this weekend. Meanwhile, as of this writing, there's no word as to the availability of Brett Gardner tonight. With interleague shifting to NL parks over the next nine games, the Yankees will need their full complement of bench players. Gardner may not be the best option off the bench, but he's more appealing than Francisco Cervelli, Ramiro Pena, and Angel Berroa.
The Yanks are in a bit of a funk right now. Since shipping up to Boston last Tuesday, they've gone 3-6. They're a Luis Castillo error away from being 2-7 in that span. They've often looked listless during this stretch and have made more than their share of mental errors. They've lost to two unheralded starters in a row, and this weekend they're scheduled to face three more youngsters that they've never seen before.
They have six in a row against the Marlins and the Braves, two sub-.500 teams with noticeable warts. This would be a great time to erase the memory of the problems of the last two weeks. They've played poorly during that stretch, but they're better than that. Now's the time to prove it.
Because you can be better than that,
Don't let it get the better of you,
What can be better than now?
Life's not about what's better than.
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Correction: Pettitte last faced the Marlins as a Yankee when he was the losing pitcher in Game 6 of the 2003 series. That's what I get for rushing to get this done before jetting out of the office on a Friday.
ReplyDeleteAlso Pete Abe says A-Rod is off until Sunday and Gardner is woozey.