The Yankees are Coming! The Yankees are Coming!
Fri, April 11: Chien-Ming Wang (2-0, 1.38) vs. Clay Buchholz (01, 5.40)
Yankees Batting Rankings
- 8th in BA (.253)
- 13th in R (31)
- t7th in HR (8)
- 14th in SB (0)
Yankees Pitching Rankings
- t5th in W (5)
- 4th in ERA (3.68)
- 3rd in SO (69)
- 6th in BAA (.252)
- 4th in WHIP (1.27)
Red Sox Batting Rankings
- 2nd in BA (.276)
- t6th in R (42)
- t7th in HR (8)
- 12th in SB (2)
Red Sox Pitching Rankings
- t5th in W (5)
- 12th in ERA (4.55)
- 1st in SO (80)
- 1st in BAA (.228)
- 9th in WHIP (1.40)
Yankees Team Leaders
BA: Bobby Abreu, .333
HR: Melky Cabrera, Hideki Matsui, and Alex Rodriguez, 2
RBI: Alex Rodriguez, 7
R: Alex Rodriguez, 7
W: Chien-Ming Wang, 2
ERA: Chien-Ming Wang, 1.38
SO: Brian Bruney and Chien-Ming Wang, 8
Red Sox Team Leaders
BA: Kevin Youkilis, .324
HR: Jason Varitek, 2
RBI: Manny Ramirez, 8
R: Kevin Youkilis, 8
W: Daisuke Matsuzaka, 2
ERA: Daisuke Matsuzaka, 1.47
SO: Daisuke Matsuzaka, 22
AL East Standings
1. Baltimore 6-3, .667
t2. New York 5-5, .500, 1.5 GB
t2. Boston 5-5, .500, 1.5 GB
t4. Tampa Bay 4-5, .444, 2 GB
t4. Toronto 4-5, .444, 2 GB
Quick Hits
- Hughes and Buchholz will each be making their first career start against their respective archrival
- David Ortiz’s Lifetime Numbers vs. Wang: .500 (15 of 30), 2 HR, 10 RBI
- Manny Ramriez’s Lifetime Numbers vs. Wang: .591 (13 of 22), 2 HR, 5 RBI
- Varitek is a .333 batter with 1 HR and 8 RBI in 30 career ABs vs. Mariano Rivera
- Ortiz’s career numbers vs. Rivera: .350 (7 for 20), 1 HR, 4 RBI
- Rivera owns Manny Ramirez (.216 BA and .297 SLG with 11 SO in 37 career AB)
- Varitek vs. Mike Mussina: .133 BA, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 60 AB
- Ramirez has battered Andy Pettitte throughout his career (.431, 4 HR, 19 RBI)
- Ortiz’s career numbers vs. Farnsworth: .000 with 4 SO in 7 AB
- Beckett has struggled against most Yankee regulars: Jeter (.304 / 1 HR / 1 RBI), Melky (.318 / 0 / 3), Cano (.389 / 1 / 4), Giambi (.333 / 2 / 6), and Posada (.400 / 0 / 2)
- Cano (.083), Abreu (.000), A-Rod (.125), Matsui (.143), and Cabrera (.000) have all been baffled by Daisuke Matsuzaka, while Damon (.385 / 1 HR / 4 RBI), Jeter (.333 / 2 HR / 3 RBI), Posada (.556 / 0 HR / 2 RBI), and Giambi (.500 / 0 HR / 3 RBI) have all hit him well
- Yankee batters have pounded Hideki Okajima: .324 BA, .595 SLG, 2 HR, and 5 RBI as a team
- The Yankees have a combined .191 BA with 1 HR and 7 RBI in 47 career ABs vs. Jonathan Papelbon
Outlook: You have to like the Yankees chances in game 1 behind Wang despite his horrific track record against Ortiz and Ramirez. Saturday’s game does not look to be the most favorable pitching matchup for the Yanks, though Mussina threw very well in his last start and Beckett did not. Sunday’s game is interesting and likely to decide the series.
Matsuzaka had a 2-1 record vs. the Yanks last year, but also posted an awful 6.12 ERA. His two wins were the result of good run support rather than impressive pitching. While he does have good numbers against roughly half of the Yankee lineup, the other half hits him very well. And both halves draw walks and make him work — thus his high ERA. Matsuzaka isn’t scaring anyone in pinstripes (or, in this case, road greys). On the other side, I think Hughes is tailor-made to pitch effectively against Boston. He has a good, strong fastball with movement that’ll challenge Boston hitters and a superb 12-6 curveball that will keep them off-balance. Boston’s lineup tends to have most of its success against pitchers who predominantly rely on pitches other than their fastball rather than power pitchers of Hughes’ ilk.
The Yankees still aren’t hitting like they should be, but the Red Sox haven’t been tearing the cover off the ball and their pitching staff has been walking a lot of batters (which is why they have such a high WHIP despite ranking 1st in the AL in BAA). I like the Yankees to win Sunday’s contest and pull out a 2-1 split in Beantown.
mlblogsggwp
I am so excited for this series! The Yankees are going to win 2 out of 3 I know it. Would you add my blogs to your blog roles?
http://myteamrivals.typepad.com/thebronxdaily/
http://myteamrivals.typepad.com/yankeesredsox/
Thanks,
Bill
No prob. Thanks for stopping by.