For the fifth straight time, the Yankees will turn to Pettitte following a poor start by A.J. Burnett. He has responded well the previous four times, tossing 29 innings and allowing just 10 runs. The Yankees have won only two of them, but that clearly is no fault of Pettitte’s. He’s done his job not only by limiting the runs, but also by eating innings. He has completed seven innings in each of those starts.
The stopper role is nothing new to Pettitte. That was always his story during the late 90s. In games after the Yankees lost, especially after they had lost two in a row, you could count on Pettitte to stop the bleeding. As long as he’s pitching behind A.J. Burnett the team is going to continue calling on him in that capacity. Well, that is, unless Dave Eiland brings a pouch of magic dust that will instantly cure what ails Burnett.
The Yanks go full strength in this one. They’ll need firepower against Clayton Kershaw. It would help, too, if Kershaw is more like his last start against Anaheim, when he gave up five runs in 6.2 innings, than he was his start before, when he held the Reds to one run over 7.1.
Hope you enjoyed interleague 2010. This is the last of those games.
Lineup:
1. Derek Jeter, SS
2. Nick Swisher, RF
3. Mark Teixeira, 1B
4. Alex Rodriguez, 3B
5. Robinson Cano, 2B
6. Jorge Posada, C
7. Curtis Granderson, CF
8. Brett Gardner, LF
9. Andy Pettitte, P
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