Game 83: (Love Is Like A) Heatwave

It's far too hot to piece together anything resembling a cogent preview. It's the middle game of the series between the Yankees and A's, as hometown guy CC Sabathia faces off against Trevor Cahill. Both hurlers were named to the AL All-Star team on Saturday. However, with both starting tonight they're on pace to start again on Sunday, thereby making them ineligible for the mid-summer classic.

Forecasts call for a 62 degree game-time temperature in Oakland tonight. It's currently 97 in my neck of the woods and 102 in NYC. By the time Cahill delivers the game's first pitch, the sun will have been down for a good hour plus on the East Coast, yet it will still be a good fifteen or twenty degrees warmer here than at the Coliseum. And there isn't much relief in sight.



[Song Notes: If Martha and the Vandellas aren't exactly your thing, here's a version from Standing in the Shadows of Motown, featuring Joan Osborne backed by the Funk Brothers, the Motown house band. Also, apparently The Who covered this one too, which I never knew until seraching YouTube earlier.]

-Lineups-

Yankees:
Brett Gardner leads off for the second night in a row, Nick Swisher DH's for the second night in a row, and Colin Curtis starts in right field for the second night in a row. Jorge Posada is back behind the plate; he left Sunday's game after a foul ball sprained his ring finger.

Brett Gardner LF
Derek Jeter SS
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Nick Swisher DH
Jorge Posada C
Curtis Granderson CF
Colin Curtis RF

A's:

Coco Crisp CF
Daric Barton 1B
Kurt Suzuki C
Kevin Kouzmanoff 3B
Mark Ellis 2B
Jack Cust DH
Adam Rosales SS
Matt Carson RF
Rajai Davis LF