|
Pirates (26-34) at Yankees (27-31) |
|
|
|
|
Written by Administrator
|
|
Tuesday, 26 June 2007 |
 After a four-game set with the White Sox in Chicago, the Yankees (27-31) welcome the Pittsburgh Pirates (26-34) to the Bronx for a weekend interleague series. The Yankees enter the series after ending their longest road trip of the season on a high note, as they took three of four from the White Sox. The story of the series for the Yankees, not surprisingly, was their powerful offense. Alex Rodriguez followed up his 9th inning game-winning home run against the Red Sox on Sunday by pounding the White Sox in the four-game set; Rodriguez finished 8-17 (.471) with 2 home runs and 9 RBI, including a grand slam in the top of the 9th inning of Thursday’s game with the Yankees ahead 3-2.Bobby Abreu, who has struggled for much of the season and has found his name swirling in trade rumors, also put together a fabulous series at the plate. eturning to his customary third spot in the lineup, Abreu went 6-13 (.462) with one home run and 5 RBI.
After a four-game set with the White Sox in Chicago, the Yankees (27-31) welcome the Pittsburgh Pirates (26-34) to the Bronx for a weekend interleague series.
The Yankees enter the series after ending their longest road trip of the season on a high note, as they took three of four from the White Sox.
The story of the series for the Yankees, not surprisingly, was their powerful offense.
Alex Rodriguez followed up his 9th inning game-winning home run against the Red Sox on Sunday by pounding the White Sox in the four-game set; Rodriguez finished 8-17 (.471) with 2 home runs and 9 RBI, including a grand slam in the top of the 9th inning of Thursday’s game with the Yankees ahead 3-2.
Bobby Abreu, who has struggled for much of the season and has found his name swirling in trade rumors, also put together a fabulous series at the plate. Returning to his customary third spot in the lineup, Abreu went 6-13 (.462) with one home run and 5 RBI. After hitting .253 and .209 in April and May respectively, Abreu is currently hitting .522 for the month of June.
Meanwhile, the Pirates enter the series after taking two of three from Washington Nationals.
All three games in that series were decided by one run. One-run victories are hard to come by on the road, but the Pirates eked out two such victories in Washington thanks to timely hitting and a little luck.
In the series’ opening game, the Pirates led 7-4 when Felipe Lopez doubled to deep right with Tony Batista on first. Batista ran through third-base coach Tim Tolman’s stop sign and tried to score, but was called out on a close play at home. Batista’s baserunning mistake proved to be the difference maker in a game the Pirates won 7-6.
Then, after losing 6-5 on Wednesday on a Salomon Torres walk-off wild pitch, Jason Bay hit an opposite-field solo homer to lead off the top of the 9th inning to give the Pirates a 3-2 lead. Mike Capps then retired the Nationals in order in the bottom of the 9th to secure the victory.
The series will open Friday night when each team’s ace takes the mound, as Tom Gorzelanny (6-3, 2.53 ERA) faces fellow southpaw Andy Pettitte (3-4, 2.96 ERA).
Gorzelanny has been consistently good all season, as he allowed more than 3 earned runs just once all year, and has given up 2 earned runs or less in 9 of his 12 starts. However, he has just one win in his last four starts, despite sporting a 2.88 ERA in those starts. Still, he ranks 5th in the National League in ERA at 2.53 and ranks in the top 20 in WHIP at 1.26.
Pettitte, too, has been fantastic all season, as he has allowed more than 3 earned only twice and 2 earned runs or less in 9 of 12 starts. However, he was forced to leave Sunday’s start against the Red Sox in the 5th due to back spasms. With the rash of injuries that has plagued the Yankees’ starting staff all season, they can ill-afford to lose another starter, let alone their most reliable one.
In the series’ second game Paul Maholm (2-8, 5.35 ERA) will take on future Hall-of-Famer Roger Clemens (N/A).
Maholm has struggled all season, save for a complete-game shutout of the Astros on April 24th. In his most recent start he lasted 6.2 innings against the Dodgers but surrendered 9 hits and 5 runs – 4 of them earned – en route to a 6-5 loss. Over his last 5 starts he is 0-4 with a 5.29 ERA and 1.33 WHIP.
Clemens, meanwhile, will be making his much-anticipated 2007 debut after signing a pro-rated, $28 million contract with the Yankees roughly one month ago. Clemens was initially scheduled to start Monday against the White Sox but scratched himself because of right groin fatigue. In his final minor league start before joining the big club, Clemens pitched six shutout innings for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in a 2-0 victory.
The series will conclude Sunday afternoon when former Yankee Shawn Chacon (2-0, 3.26 ERA) takes on rookie Tyler Clippard (3-1, 3.60 ERA).
Chacon began the season in the Pirates’ bullpen but was moved to the rotation on May 31st. In his first start of the season he was dominant, as he allowed just 3 hits and no earned runs over 7 innings against the Padres while striking out 10. In his last start, however, he went just 5.1 innings, giving up 8 hits and 4 earned runs to the lowly Nationals.
Clippard, on the other hand, got back on track after shaky starts in his 2nd and 3rd games of the year. In his 4th start, against the White Sox on Tuesday, Clippard lasted only 5 innings but gave up just 5 hits and 1 earned run. In his lone start at Yankee Stadium, Clippard gave up 6 hits and 3 earned runs in just 4 innings in his only loss of the season.
The Yankees are currently tied for 3rd in the AL East with the Toronto Blue Jays, and sit 10.5 games back of the first-place Boston Red Sox. The Pirates are 4th in the NL Central, 7 games behind the Milwaukee Brewers.
Notes
With Thursday’s grand slam, 3B Alex Rodriguez pulled ahead of Milwaukee 1B Prince Fielder for the major league lead in home runs with 22…The Yankees rank 23rd in baseball with a 4.63 Team ERA. The Pirates are 16th with a 4.44 ERA…LF Jason Bay has struggled against RHP Clemens in his career. He is just 3-17 (.176) with no home runs and 6 strikeouts…RF Bobby Abreu has the most career at-bats against RHP Chacon of any Yankee with 10. He has just one hit against him (.100) and has struck out 4 times.
|
|
Last Updated ( Friday, 29 June 2007 )
|
|
|