OK, I don't like the Red Sox. Not even a little bit. But I'm still hoping against hope that the Jays' homestand proves to be a tremendous success for the Beantowners, as that would require Toronto racking up some W's against the Yankees this weekend in front of what should be some large (if Lackawanna-infused) crowds. The Yankees have been winning despite several key injuries. Of course, their ability to pick up costly veterans whenever somebody goes down with a day-to-day injury helps.
Not many soft touches on this lineup, and although the bullpen has been suspect, the Jays have been making suspect 'pens look fantastic lately. It'll be interesting to see if Toronto fans have Raul Mondesi to kick around this weekend, since the moody veteran has been benched. The even-more-moody Boomer Wells isn't even making the trip.
It's never easy against the Bombers, except possibly when Jeff Weaver starts. Is this last call for the playoff bandwagon?
On to the Advance Scout!
* What does it say about the Yankees that they bounced back from two lopsided defeats to beat Boston twice? "I hope it says a lot about us," said Joe Torre ... But then the Yankees mustered only one baserunner against Billy Traber on Tuesday ... On Thursday, the Yankees suffered what Torre described as a "bad loss" as the Yankees lost 3-2 in 10 innings, grounding into three double plays ... The Yankees haven't homered in four straight games, a season-high streak ...
* Tonight's opponent, Andy Pettitte, was superb on Sunday, allowing just one run on four hits in eight innings, with zero walks and ten strikeouts ... Torre thought it was the most important regular-season performance of Pettitte's career, since it came immediately after two embarrassing Red Sox blowouts ... At one point, he retired sixteen straight against a scary lineup ... Manny Ramirez: "He had everything working today. He was nasty...It was the best we've ever seen Pettitte" ... But he often struggles at SkyDome ...
* Curtis Pride's inspirational return to baseball has only yielded one hit so far -- a home run against Boston on Sunday ... He had tears in his eyes when he got an enthusiastic curtain call from the Bronx faithful ... He then hit the fateful ground ball on Monday that Todd Walker booted to hand New York another huge win ...
* Alfonso Soriano has fallen off his torrid April pace, but he's still slugging .519 and he's an outstanding 25-for-29 (86%) on the basepaths ... He is, however, prone to pickoffs. John Davis nailed him twice last night -- once each at first and second ... As Pedro Martinez famously observed over the weekend, "The only way you're going to get Soriano out is inside" ... The Jays relievers will need to be aggressive ... Both Soriano and Jeter missed only one game in recovering from Pedro HBP's ... Soriano, earning only $800,000 of the Yankees' reckless millions of payroll, has hired SFX to represent him in what should be a mind-boggling deal to stay with New York ...
* Tomorrow's opponent, Mike Mussina, is holding the opposition to just a .227 average and has an outstanding 20/115 BB/K ratio ... He matched Pettitte's mastery of Boston with a two-hit, one-walk, nine-strikeout tour de force on Monday ... An emotional performance? Ask Steinbrenner ... He has yielded 12 home runs, however ...
* Ruben Sierra has been a solid Yankee, but he's in a 3-for-24 funk (.125) ... On Wednesday, Sierra hustled to beat a throw that could have resulted in an inning-ending double play -- earning the Yankees a run ...
* Everybody's favourite All-Star, Hideki Matsui, was an absurd 394/484/673 in June ... But he went 0-for-12 in Cleveland this week ... His glove work has been improving, and he robbed Coco Crisp with a sliding catch in the seventh and later nailed Jhonny Peralta (yes, that's the spelling) trying to stretch a single into a double in the ninth on Thursday ... Well, "nailed" might be a strong word. It was a terrible call -- but the Yankees get those ...
* Robin Ventura has been downright frosty, going 0 for his last 17 and 6 for his last 51 (.118) ... Doghouse denizen Raul Mondesi pinch-hit for him last night ...
* Karim Garcia has been baffled by the Blue Jays in his career -- just 206/215/413 all-time against us ... Garcia sprinted maniacally from the field after a lightning bolt narrowly missed Jacobs Field during Tuesday's batting practice -- "the fastest I've run all year," according to Karim ...
* Garcia has taken the job from old "friend" Raul Mondesi, provoking a profanity-laced tirade ... "Because I had a bad week? What about the first two months of the season?...Three months left, man" ... His last sentence refers to his repeated desire to not play for the Yankees next year ... He said he's interested in playing the rest of the season in New York, but if he's to be platooned, he'd rather be traded by the deadline ... He's 1 for his last 24 (.042) ... According to the New York Times' Tyler Kepner, "If Raul Mondesi wants to be an ex-Yankee -- and he may -- his tirade...could not have been better timed" ... Mondesi: "Nobody said anything the first two months of the season , when nobody was hitting, only Soriano and me" ... Torre said Mondesi "looked so out of whack" in his last start on Wednesday that he simply had to bench him ... Mondesi has been battling a strained hip flexor and probably couldn't play the outfield this past week anyway ... Simply put, though, the honeymoon is over ... Torre said today that Mondesi won't start at all this weekend ... The Daily News has suggested a Mondesi-for-Guillermo Mota trade, but the quoted Yankees source said "That's very preliminary" ...
* After a lengthy dry spell in the first half of June, Derek Jeter is hitting .440 since June 20 ... Erick Almonte booted the ball all over the infield on Tuesday in #2's absence ... Jeter had a four-hit night against C.C. Sabathia on Wednesday ... The New York Times ran a piece on Ken Huckaby, whom the paper compared to Crash Davis, and the "misguided" enmity Jeter still has toward the "clumsy" catcher ...
* We'll probably never see the level of power and production from Jorge Posada that he showed in 2000 again, but he has an amazing 60 walks ...
* Mariano Rivera has battled through health issues, but is 15/16 in save situations and has allowed just two earned runs (plus one unearned) in his last 19 outings ...
* Jeff Weaver starts on Sunday ... His 4-0 victory on a matinee in April against the Jays remains the only start in which he's yielded fewer than three runs ... He's been far too hittable: Try a .315 opposing batting average on for size ...
* Sterling Hitchcock has surrendered runs in four of his last six outings, including getting absolutely lit up by the Devil Rays and Mets ... He walked the leadoff man en route to losing last night's game in the tenth ... "I've walked way too many guys lately," said Hitchcock ...
* Jason Giambi went 1-for-10 in Cleveland, but received some good news: He's replacing the injured Mike Sweeney in Chicago next week ... Here's hoping he rides the pine and/or forgets his first baseman's glove ... He's at 207/378/310 in July after an otherworldly 373/554/819 in June ... Giambi said that he and Milton Bradley are "straight" after the two exchanged words following a collision at first base -- Bradley apologized, and Giambi called him a "good kid and great player" ... Giambi will be in the Home Run Derby on Monday ...
* Bernie Williams returned Wednesday after seven weeks on the shelf to recover from knee surgery ...
* Jose Contreras is battling a strained shoulder and hopes to pitch off a mound after his MRI next Wednesday ...
* The Yankees continue to seek bullpen help, but are not interested in Felix Rodriguez ... The Daily News says the Rangers have lowered their sights from Nick Johnson or Brandon Claussen for Ugueth Urbina -- and will now take Juan Rivera; the Yankees still aren't interested at that price ... Armando Benitez and Scott Sauerbeck are other bullpen targets ... The Post has suggested Mike Myers as a possible solution ...
* Boomer Wells will not make the trip to Toronto ... He's in San Diego for his grandfather's funeral ...
* Drew Henson update: .218, 17 walks and 86 K's ... A bitter feud has erupted between Columbus manager Bucky Dent and hitting coach Sal Rende about how to handle Henson ... The discord has reached a point where Steinbrenner has dispatched his lieutenant Gordon Blakeley to Columbus to sort matters out ... Henson may be sent to AA Trenton to get away from the controversy ... With a name like "Gordon Blakeley," shouldn't he be a partner at a Bay St. law firm? ...
* Brandon Claussen has opted out of the AAA All-Star game so as not to tamper with his regular pitching routine ...
* Antonio Osuna is expected back on Saturday from his groin injury ... Am I the only one reminded of Sam Malone's sportscaster "rap"? ...
Probable Batting Orders
* Note: No lefthander is scheduled to start for the Jays this series.
vs. RH
4 Soriano
6 Jeter
3 Giambi
8 Williams
7 Matsui
2 Posada/Flaherty
DH Sierra
5 Ventura
9 Garcia/Pride
Pitching Probables
Friday: LH Pettitte vs. Wasdin
Saturday: RH Mussina vs. Halladay
Sunday: RH Weaver vs. Escobar
Bullpen Usage
Long: Hitchcock L
Short: Reyes R, Anderson R
Setup: Hammond L, Miceli R
Closer: Rivera R
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