The New York Yankees (34-20) have now first third of their season, and they’re finally facing off against the Toronto Blue Jays (31-24).  I did a terrible job of time management , so this series preview is going to be rather abbreviated.

 

Starting Pitchers

RHP A.J. Burnett (6-2, 3.28) vs. LHP Brett Cecil (5-2, 3.81)

LHP Andy Pettitte (7-1, 2.48) vs. LHP Ricky Romero (5-2, 3.14)

RHP Javier Vazquez (4-5, 6.06) vs. RHP Brandon Morrow (4-4, 6.00)

 

Notes:

  • Talk about some pitching matchups. They all have the potential to be low scoring affairs, even the third game.  Vazquez and Morrow are both coming off solid outings. For a more detailed look at the probable starters, head on over here .
  • Pettitte is going for win No. 200 as a Yankee.  It’s also been thrown around that if he keeps it up, he could be a candidate to start in the All-Star game .
  • The Blue Jays lead the majors in home runs with 91 dingers in 55 games.  Boston comes in second with 71.  The Yankees are seventh with 59 homers.  The Yankees have outscored the Jays overall this season though, 301 to 283.
  • The Yankees’ starters ERA sits at 3.60, good for sixth best in baseball.  The Jays’ starters have an ERA of 4.19, 16th best in the bigs.  When it comes to bullpen ERA, both teams are in the bottom half, as Toronto is 18th with a 4.27 ERA and NY 20th with a 4.42 ERA.  Look for starting pitching to dictate the outcome of this series.
  • Toronto is just 15-13 at home this season while the Yankees are 15-13 on the road.  Talk about the numbers matching up, huh?

 

Yankees’ Keys to the Series

  • Can the Yankees pitchers stay away from the long ball?  They’re going to need to if they want to keep the Jays’ offense at bay.
  • I don’t know why I feel this way, since the numbers say otherwise (vs. LHP / vs. RHP ), but I always feel like good lefty starting pitchers give the Yankees a hard time.  Hopefully they buck the trend and jump all over Cecil and Romero to start the series.
  • Javy gets a lot of flak from the NY media, but he’s thrown well over his last five appearances .  Hopefully, he keeps the ball rollin’.

 

Expected Outcome

I’m on the fence about whether we’ll take one or two of three.  With the way they just demolished the Orioles it’s hard to expect losses, but I just don’t know. 

Put me down for a Pettitte loss sandwiched between AJ and Javy wins.  That way, Pettitte is set up to win his 200th game at home against the Astros— talk about a storyline.

Just because I said that, I fully expect him to win on Saturday and prove me wrong.  Oh well, that’s life.

Also, I don’t know if anyone has been confused by my picture choices in the past couple of weeks, but I’ve been trying to find funny/awkward pictures and make a joke in the alternate text (when you hover over the picture with your mouse). (a) I don’t know if the alternate text works for anyone (b) They’re really never funny.

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