Yankees @ Jays Series Preview

Yankees @ Blue Jays
Rogers Centre
(3 games)

I don't have to tell you that the Yankees haven't been playing well. They haven't gotten anywhere near the pitching they thought they'd get and for the second year in a row they can't hit with runners on. Luckily, Johnny Damon hit that big three-run homer on Sunday and the Yankees aren't coming into this series losers of seven of eight. Six out of eight is bad enough.

A couple positives from the Orioles series; Damon has been awesome, CC Sabathia looked like he's back to being the CC, Mark Teixeira hit a homer two days in a row, Francisco Cervelli is providing a nice spark to this team, and when Joba works out his first inning issues everyone better watch out.

With the quality of teams in the AL East the Yankees cannot afford to hang around the .500 mark for much longer. If they do they will look up at the standings on day in the near future and be ten games out. Like Brian Cashman said yesterday, "It's got to get better now. No more waiting." The Yankees are 15-16, in third place in the AL East, and 5.5 games behind the first place Blue Jays.

Speaking of the Jays, they're the surprise team of Baseball right now. They've gotten off to a great start and they lead the AL East with a 22-12 record. They're the best hitting team in baseball right now, leading all of baseball in runs (204), hits (366), total bases (582), and batting avg. (.294).

And this quick start shouldn't necessarily be looked at as a fluke either. After firing John Gibbons bringing in Cito Gaston to manage they finished last year playing very good baseball, going 51-37. They did lose A.J. Burnett, but they're still finding a way to win, at least they are for now.

One complaint I've heard from people is that the Jays haven't played any good teams yet, and the only AL East team they've played is the last place Orioles. And that's basically true, but you still have to beat the teams you play and so far the Jays have done just that.

Last season the Yankees and Jays split the 18 games they played.

Pitching Matchups

Game 1: Today @ 7:07 p.m. | TV/Radio: MY9, WCBS 880
A.J. Burnett RHP (2-0, 5.26 ERA) vs. Roy Halladay RHP (6-1, 3.29 ERA)

Game 2: Tomorrow @ 7:07 p.m. | TV/Radio: YES, WCBS 880
Andy Pettitte LHP (2-0, 5.26 ERA) vs. Scott Richmond RHP (4-1, 3.29 ERA)

Game 3: Thursday @ 7:07 p.m. | TV/Radio: YES, WCBS 880
CC Sabathia LHP (2-3, 3.94 ERA) vs. Brian Tallet LHP (2-1, 4.95 ERA)

Players to Watch

YANKEES: Mark Teixeira - Is the Yankees $180 million first baseman ever going to start hitting consistently? It's May 12th and he's hitting just .198/.338/.434 with 7 HR and 17 RBI. And it's not like he's getting any better, over his last five games he's hitting .200/.273/.550 with 2 HR and 5 RBI. The homers and walks are there, but it's about time he starts picking up some hits and getting that batting average up to respectability.

Who better to get into the groove than against the first place Jays, a team he's had a lot of success against throughout his career. In 42 games he's hitting .313/.419/.733 with 17 HR and 46 RBI. Over the last two seasons he's absolutely destroyed Jays pitching. In three games last year he hit .500/.750/.1.667 with 2 HR and 5 RBI, and in 2007 he hit .393/.452/.893 with 3 HR and 8 RBI in seven games against them.

Teixeira vs. Halladay: .222/.263/.389 (4-for-18), HR, 3 RBI
Teixeira vs. Richmond: NR
Teixeira vs. Tallet: .667/.800/.1.667 (2-for-3) HR, 2 RBI, 2 BB

BLUE JAYS: Aaron Hill and Adam Lind - It hasn't been Vernon Wells or Alex Rios, but Jays' second baseman Aaron Hill and DH Adam Lind have been leading the way offensively.

They've both gotten off to a great start this season, Hill is hitting .353/.394/.549, with 8 HR and 29 RBI, and leads the Jays in hitting (.353), hits (54) HR (8), total bases (84). He's also done very well against the Yankees hitting .305/.359/.414 with a home run and 19 RBI. Last season he only faced the Yankees three times, and went 3-for-12 with an RBI.

Lind has also gotten off to a great start, hitting .333/.405/.561, with 6 HR and 31 RBI. He leads the team in slugging (.561), RBI (31), and OPS (.966).

In 25 games against the Yankees in his career he's hitting .267/.323/.407, with 2 HR and 12 RBI. And last year he hit .311/.354/.444, with a homer and 5 RBI in 12 games against the Yanks.

Hill vs. Burnett: NR
Hill vs. Pettitte: .250/.250/.250 (3-for-12), 2 K
Hill vs. Sabathia: .200/.294/.533 (3-for-15), HR, 2 RBI, 4 K

Lind vs. Burnett: NR
Lind vs. Pettitte: .200/.333/.300 (2-for-10), 2B, 2 BB, 3 K
Lind vs. Sabathia: 0-for-2 with 2 K

Injury Report

YANKEES
- Xavier Nady, RF: 15-day DL with an injured right elbow. It was thought that he would need season-ending surgery, but it is now being reported that he may avoid the surgery and be back by mid June.
- Cody Ransom, INF: 60-day DL with a strained right quad.
- Brian Bruney, RP: 15-day DL with a sore right elbow. He threw from 90 feet and reported no problems. The next move is starting up bullpen sessions.
- Chien-Ming Wang, SP: 15-day DL with hip abductor muscle weakness. He will start for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees tonight.
- Damaso Marte, RP: 15-day DL with a sore shoulder.
- Jorge Posada, C: 15-day DL with a strained right hamstring. He will miss at least 2-3 weeks.
- Jose Molina, C: On the 15-day DL with a strained left quad.

BLUE JAYS
- B.J. Ryan, RP: 15-day DL with a sore left shoulder and back.
- Ricky Romero, SP: 15-day DL with a strained right olblique.
- Michael Barrett, C: 15-day DL with a muscle tear in his right shoulder.
- Jesse Lisch, SP: 15-day DL with a right forearm strain.
- Dustin McGowan, SP: 15-day DL while he recovers from right shoulder surgery.
- Shaun Marcum, SP: 15-day DL as he recovers from right elbow surgery.