New York Yankees
Johnny Damon, LF
Derek Jeter, SS
Bobby Abreu, RF
Alex Rodriguez, 3B
Hideki Matsui, DH
Robinson Cano, 2B
Melky Cabrera, CF
Wilson Betemit, 1B
Jose Molina, C
Ian Kennedy, RHP (1-0, 2.25)
Toronto Blue Jays
Reed Johnson, LF
Russ Adams, 3B
Álex Ríos, CF
Frank Thomas, DH
Matt Stairs, RF
Aaron Hill, 2B
Lyle Overbay, 1B
Gregg Zaun, C
John McDonald, SS
A.J. Burnett, RHP (8-7, 3.56)
With last night's victory over the Blue Jays, the Yanks have finally climbed out of a season-long hole in two key areas. They are now above .500 on the road (36-35) for the first time since April 11th (2-1). Secondly, they are now above .500 against AL East opponents (28-27) for the first time since Opening Day (1-0).
Remarkably, if the Yanks can manage to go 12-5 over the remaining 17 games, they will finish the regular season with 95 wins. Still a challenge, but doable if they continue to pitch well.
Raise your hand if you thought this was a realistic possibility on May 29th when this team had just lost their fifth-straight game and were tied with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays for last place (21-29) in the mighty AL East -- 14.5 games behind the Red Sox.
Check out this thread John posted on June 1st. Kinda eerie.
As for tonight's game, Burnett (3-2, 3.73 ERA in 5 starts) was dominant in his one start against the Yanks this season (7.0 IP, 4 H, 0 ER) and picked up the victory. He has been nearly unhittable since his return from the DL on Aug 12th (3-1, 1.90 ERA in 6 starts).
Lifetime numbers against Burnett:
Abreu: .342 (13-38, 1 HR) A-Rod: .364 (4-11, 2 HR) Jeter: .400 (4-10, 1 HR) Posada: .083 (1-11)
The featured graphic for tonight's game was the home jersey logo of the Toronto Blue Jays from 1977 to 1988.