UPDATE: (Props to Jedi)
@JackCurryYES: Montero will be starting DH vs Lester.
After suffering a crushing defeat last night up in Beantown, the Yankees will throw up a hail mary and send A.J. Burnett to the hill to face off against Boston's southpaw, Jon Lester. With a win, the Yankees will pull themselves within half a game (tied in the loss column) of Boston and secure a series victory for the first time since May 7-9 of last year at Fenway Park.
Onto the links:
Incase you didn't see yet, Jesus Montero is with the Bombers.
Evidently, umpire Joe West is not the only one that's fed up with the pace of Yankee-Red Sox games. So is New York's first baseman Mark Teixeira.
"It's brutal," Teixeira told The New York Times on Wednesday before the teams squared off at Fenway Park. "I can't stand playing a nine-inning game in four hours. It's not baseball. I don't even know how to describe it. If I was a fan, why would I want to come watch people sitting around and (players) talking back and forth, going to the mound, 2-0 sliders in the dirt? Four-hour games can't be fun for a fan, either."
Truthfully, he's right. If anyone recalls, Jarrod Saltalamacchia went out and spoke to John Lackey three times in one inning on Tuesday night. Saltalamacchia isn't the only one that's guilty of that, but really? I understand that the Yankees and Red Sox are two of the most patient lineups in all of baseball and take their sweet time trying to outmatch each other, but that doesn't mean the length of the games isn't ridiculous. However, it's beating a dead horse at this point. The games are what they are and the fans can choose to watch or not watch. For the record, last night's game was three hours and sixteen minutes.
More past the jump.
- John Lackey has been fined for plunking Francisco Cervelli after the catcher took him yard in his previous at-bat.
- Will Carroll of Sports Illustrated believes the Yankees should take their time with Alex Rodriguez and his sprained left thumb.
- The New York Post has a nice article about Jesus Montero and his possible impact on the Yankees in September.
- Dan Shaughnessy's take from the Boston Globe on last night's game.
- Dante Bichette's home run helped power the Baby Bombers win the Gulf Coast League.