Pettitte, Yankees go for sweep of Minnesota Twins
Pettitte, Yankees go for sweep of Minnesota Twins
While A-Rod's return from the DL has gotten the press, it's been pitching that has propelled the Pinstripers to a 7-2 streak. Andy Pettitte looks to keep that going for New York on Monday.
Don't look now, but the New York Yankees are beginning to make some noise after a slow beginning to the 2009 campaign. With their 3-2, 10-inning triumph over Minnesota on Sunday, New York has now won five straight and seven of their last nine to move to three games over .500 for just the second time this season.
The victory left the Yankees 20-17 (-4.08 units) going into Monday night's finale of their four-game series with Minnesota. After coming into the series with four wins in their previous five games, dropping all three to New York over the weekend has the Twins 18-20 (-4.00 units) to start the seventh week of the season.
Game 4 will feature two lefthanders with Glen Perkins getting the ball for Minnesota and Andy Pettitte (5-2, 4.00) going for New York in the 7:00 p.m. (ET) ESPN telecast.
After a strong start to the season with three solid starts out of the gate, Perkins (3-4, 4.27) has been in a rut over his last four starts. In his most recent start, last Wednesday against Dontrelle Willis and the Tigers, the lefthander made it just an out into the sixth inning having walked four and responsible for five Detroit runs. In his last four outings covering 22.1 IP, Perkins has walked eight, given up four long balls and been charged with 18 earned runs.
This will be his third career start against New York, both of the previous two in the 2008 season. Perkins took the loss giving up five in six frames in the Bronx and pitched eight shutout innings against the Yankees in Minnesota for a win.
Nick Swisher is the only batter in the Yankees lineup who has homered against Perkins, though the lineup as a whole has done pretty well against him in limited experience (17-for-48, .354). Alex Rodriguez (4-8, 2 Dbls), Melky Cabrera (4-8) and Robinson Cano (4-7) are all hitting above .500 when facing the Minnesota southpaw.
Pettitte has pitched well overall this season, though his last two starts at the new park have not gone according to plan. In both of those assignments – May 1 vs. the Angels and May 7 vs. the Rays – the veteran lefthander gave up nine hits and five runs in the combined 11.2 innings (7.71 ERA). In that last start in New York against the Rays, Pettitte surrendered four long balls to Tampa hitters. In fact, all five of the homers he has allowed this season have been off Rays bats.
Pettitte faced Minnesota once in 2008 and was on the losing end of a 6-5 game at the Metrodome (7 IP, 5 runs, 4 ER). Delmon Young has feasted on Pettitte serves, with nine hits in 14 career at bats. However, it's unclear if Young will be with the team for this one having been placed on the family emergency list while he went to visit his sick mother in California. Brendan Harris(6-13), Michael Cuddyer (4-11) and Joe Mauer (3-6, HR) have also hit Pettitte well.
Minnesota could get some extra pop back in the lineup for this game. Joe Crede, who exited early from Friday's 5-4 loss to the Yanks with back and hamstring tightness, took BP on Sunday and could be in the lineup against Pettitte. The third baseman is 2-for-3 lifetime vs. the NY pitcher, with both hits double.
The recent spurt by the Yankees has coincided with Alex Rodriguez being back in New York's lineup. A-Rod has gone deep three times, and there's really no debate to him adding to any lineup he's in. Still, it hasn't been the offense that has really done the heavy work in the 7-2 record with Rodriguez back. New York has scored 40 runs in the string, with that working out to a 4.44 RPG rate. The Yankees scored 158 runs in the 28 games they played without A-Rod (5.64 per game).
The arms have been getting it done for New York in the 7-2 stretch, surrendering 34 runs (3.77 RPG). Compare that to the 6.28 per game rate during the team's first 28 games and add in the fact that more than a third of the runs in the last nine games came in one 12-5 loss to the Orioles in Baltimore.
Calling the balls and strikes for this one should be John Hirschbeck who has shown a couple of strong tendencies early on this season. Home teams are 6-2 when Hirschbeck dons the mask, with home favorites 5-2. And the Under has cased in six of his eight plate assignments in 2009 (1-4 O/U when the total is 8½ - 10).
Though a little on the chilly side, the weather should be fine in the Bronx on Monday night. Look for a game time temperature in the low-to-mid 50s, and dropping to the upper 40s as the evening progresses. Winds are listed as light and variable.
The first numbers to come out chalk New York at -160 over Minnesota (+145 to +150), with the total on 10. If the Twins weren't so horrible on the road so far (4-11), I might take them based on Pettitte's last two starts in the new yard. As it is, I'm going to allow myself to get sucked in on the Under 10.
NOTE: The W-L records shown for starting pitchers are their team's W-L mark when they start games. Statistical sources for this article were Baseball-Reference.com and ESPN.com.
While A-Rod's return from the DL has gotten the press, it's been pitching that has propelled the Pinstripers to a 7-2 streak. Andy Pettitte looks to keep that going for New York on Monday.
Don't look now, but the New York Yankees are beginning to make some noise after a slow beginning to the 2009 campaign. With their 3-2, 10-inning triumph over Minnesota on Sunday, New York has now won five straight and seven of their last nine to move to three games over .500 for just the second time this season.
The victory left the Yankees 20-17 (-4.08 units) going into Monday night's finale of their four-game series with Minnesota. After coming into the series with four wins in their previous five games, dropping all three to New York over the weekend has the Twins 18-20 (-4.00 units) to start the seventh week of the season.
Game 4 will feature two lefthanders with Glen Perkins getting the ball for Minnesota and Andy Pettitte (5-2, 4.00) going for New York in the 7:00 p.m. (ET) ESPN telecast.
After a strong start to the season with three solid starts out of the gate, Perkins (3-4, 4.27) has been in a rut over his last four starts. In his most recent start, last Wednesday against Dontrelle Willis and the Tigers, the lefthander made it just an out into the sixth inning having walked four and responsible for five Detroit runs. In his last four outings covering 22.1 IP, Perkins has walked eight, given up four long balls and been charged with 18 earned runs.
This will be his third career start against New York, both of the previous two in the 2008 season. Perkins took the loss giving up five in six frames in the Bronx and pitched eight shutout innings against the Yankees in Minnesota for a win.
Nick Swisher is the only batter in the Yankees lineup who has homered against Perkins, though the lineup as a whole has done pretty well against him in limited experience (17-for-48, .354). Alex Rodriguez (4-8, 2 Dbls), Melky Cabrera (4-8) and Robinson Cano (4-7) are all hitting above .500 when facing the Minnesota southpaw.
Pettitte has pitched well overall this season, though his last two starts at the new park have not gone according to plan. In both of those assignments – May 1 vs. the Angels and May 7 vs. the Rays – the veteran lefthander gave up nine hits and five runs in the combined 11.2 innings (7.71 ERA). In that last start in New York against the Rays, Pettitte surrendered four long balls to Tampa hitters. In fact, all five of the homers he has allowed this season have been off Rays bats.
Pettitte faced Minnesota once in 2008 and was on the losing end of a 6-5 game at the Metrodome (7 IP, 5 runs, 4 ER). Delmon Young has feasted on Pettitte serves, with nine hits in 14 career at bats. However, it's unclear if Young will be with the team for this one having been placed on the family emergency list while he went to visit his sick mother in California. Brendan Harris(6-13), Michael Cuddyer (4-11) and Joe Mauer (3-6, HR) have also hit Pettitte well.
Minnesota could get some extra pop back in the lineup for this game. Joe Crede, who exited early from Friday's 5-4 loss to the Yanks with back and hamstring tightness, took BP on Sunday and could be in the lineup against Pettitte. The third baseman is 2-for-3 lifetime vs. the NY pitcher, with both hits double.
The recent spurt by the Yankees has coincided with Alex Rodriguez being back in New York's lineup. A-Rod has gone deep three times, and there's really no debate to him adding to any lineup he's in. Still, it hasn't been the offense that has really done the heavy work in the 7-2 record with Rodriguez back. New York has scored 40 runs in the string, with that working out to a 4.44 RPG rate. The Yankees scored 158 runs in the 28 games they played without A-Rod (5.64 per game).
The arms have been getting it done for New York in the 7-2 stretch, surrendering 34 runs (3.77 RPG). Compare that to the 6.28 per game rate during the team's first 28 games and add in the fact that more than a third of the runs in the last nine games came in one 12-5 loss to the Orioles in Baltimore.
Calling the balls and strikes for this one should be John Hirschbeck who has shown a couple of strong tendencies early on this season. Home teams are 6-2 when Hirschbeck dons the mask, with home favorites 5-2. And the Under has cased in six of his eight plate assignments in 2009 (1-4 O/U when the total is 8½ - 10).
Though a little on the chilly side, the weather should be fine in the Bronx on Monday night. Look for a game time temperature in the low-to-mid 50s, and dropping to the upper 40s as the evening progresses. Winds are listed as light and variable.
The first numbers to come out chalk New York at -160 over Minnesota (+145 to +150), with the total on 10. If the Twins weren't so horrible on the road so far (4-11), I might take them based on Pettitte's last two starts in the new yard. As it is, I'm going to allow myself to get sucked in on the Under 10.
NOTE: The W-L records shown for starting pitchers are their team's W-L mark when they start games. Statistical sources for this article were Baseball-Reference.com and ESPN.com.
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