Game 77 Preview: Brewers at Yankees

For the first time since 1997, the Brewers are coming to the Bronx. Taking the mound for the Brew Crew will be Zack Greinke, whose peripherals show that he has been a much better pitcher than his 4.77 ERA indicates. On the season, Greinke owns a 2.30 FIP, a 1.84 xFIP, a dominant 11.93 K/9, and an equally impressive 1.34 BB/9. In ten outings, Greinke has six quality starts, including a gem against the Rays in his last start.

Greinke throws five pitches: a four seam and a two seam fastball, a slider, a curveball, and a changeup. His fastballs have sat around 92 mph and have touched 95 mph. Additionally, his velocity has been trending upward since his first start of 2011, but it is not where it has been in the past.

Greinke's off speed pitches have given him mixed results. His slider and changeup have been above average, but his curveball has been below average. His slider is thrown around 85 mph, his curve around 76 mph, and his change around 86 mph.

For the Yankees, Freddy Garcia will take the ball, skipping Brian Gordon in the process. Garcia's peripherals indicate that his 3.30 ERA is due for an uptick. His FIP is 4.14, his xFIP is 4.11, and he owns a 6.27 K/9 to go along with a 3.08 BB/9. These obviously aren't Greinke numbers, but Garcia has been effective nonetheless. Of Garcia's thirteen starts, nine of them have bee of the quality variety.

Follow the jump for lineups, matchups, and notes.

Yankees Lineup:

Gardner, Granderson, Teixeira, Rodriguez, Cano, Swisher, Posada, Martin, Nunez.

Brewers Lineup:

Weeks, Morgan, Braun, Fielder, McGehee, Hart, Gamel, Betancourt, Lucroy.

The Yankees have the advantage in that their batters have seen Greinke may more than the Brewers have seen Freddy Garcia. Here is a link to Zack Greinke vs. current Yankees, and a link to Freddy Garcia vs. current Brewers.

It is important to note that A-Rod, Cano, Swisher, and Teixeira have been very successful against Greinke for their careers. All four have faced Greinke at least thirteen times and each has an OPS over .900 against him. For the Brewers, no player with ten or more plate appearances has shown success against Garcia. However, Craig Counsell has four hits in nine plate appearances against him.

Notes: 

• Due to Brian Gordon being skipped, A.J. Burnett will take the ball tomorrow and CC Sabathia will pitch on Thursday (MLB).
• In Jeter's absence, lead off hitters Brett Gardner and Nick Swisher have combined for a .333 batting average to go along with nine walks, three doubles, and a homer (MLB).
• A-Rod is 13 for 26 in his last seven games. He has also doubled four times and walked three times in that span. His triple slash for the season currently sits at .300/.377/.513 (Yahoo!).
• Notes come from MLB.com's preview and Yahoo! Sports' preview.