New York Yankees
Johnny Damon, DH
Derek Jeter, SS
Bobby Abreu, RF
Alex Rodriguez, 3B
Jorge Posada, C
Hideki Matsui, LF
Robinson Cano, 2B
Melky Cabrera, CF
Miguel Cairo, 1B
Tyler Clippard, RHP (2-1, 4.20)
Chicago White Sox
Jerry Owens, CF
Tadahito Iguchi, 2B
Jim Thome, DH
Jermaine Dye, RF
A.J. Pierzynski, C
Paul Konerko, 1B
Rob Mackowiak, LF
Juan Uribe, SS
Alex Cintron, 3B
Mark Buehrle, LHP (2-2, 3.66)
First things first. After another embarrassing outing by Matt DeSalvo last night, he was optioned back to Triple-A Scranton (where I hope he stays for the rest of 2007) and INF-Chris Basak has been called up to replace him on the roster. Also, in a bit of a surprise move, Kevin Thompson was also optioned back to Triple-A Scranton and the team recalled LHP-Sean Henn.
Like most of you, I am hoping that Chris Britton has at least bought himself some extra time in the big leagues after his performance last night. He did give up a solo shot in his final inning of work, but threw 38 pitches in 3.0 IP and looked good. I hope Torre was watching closely because he's probably the best option they have right now behind Bruney, Proctor, and Mo.
As far as tonight's game is concerned, Tyler Clippard hopes to improve on his last two outings in which he has struggled with his control and hasn't looked particularly sharp since his debut against the Mets. Although Clippard clearly needs to work on his command and find the strike zone with more consistency, I believe he has the makeup to be solid major league pitcher whereas I don't feel that way about DeSalvo.
The PA oddsmakers have set the over/under on Clippard's walk total tonight at 3.
The top graphic is the current BP jersey logo for the New York Yankees. The bottom graphic is the logo commemorating the inaugural season of the new Comiskey Park, which opened in 1991. It was built for $167 million and so poorly designed that the park underwent another $118 million in renovations from 2001 to 2006 (just 10-15 years later) after so many fans complained that it was a terrible place to watch a ballgame.
Have I mentioned how much I hate the White Sox? Just checking.