Wolf & Pettitte to keep San Diego Padres, New York Yankees Under 9
Game Time: 06/17/2008 07:05 PM -
By: The Prez | who2beton.com
With two quality left-handers on the hill, Randy Wolf for the visiting Padres and Andy Pettitte for the Yankees, look for tonight's tilt in the Bronx to stay under the total.
Randy Wolf (5-4, 3.83) will make his first-ever start in Yankee Stadium. He's allowed just one run in each of his last three starts, and pitched seven innings while matching a season-high with nine strikeouts in a 4-1 win over the Dodgers on Wednesday.
With three wins and two no decisions in the last five starts, the Wolf deserves some soft applause for carrying the Padres pitching staff while Jake Peavy and Chris Young were down and out. The southpaw has six consecutive quality starts and sports a 2.29 ERA, 0.99 WHIP, and 8.0 K/9 during that span. Wolf's home and away splits are unattractive, but given the fact that he has very little history against the Yankees' lineup and New York struggles against left-handed starters, he figures to be good for two turns through the batting order tonight.
Wolf vs. New York hitters
Johnny Damon is 1-for-6
Derek Jeter is 1-for-3
Chad Moeller is 0-for-2
Jorge Posada is 1-for-3
No other Yankee has any first hand experience against Wolf – Advantage Wolf.
Andy Pettitte (6-5, 4.64 ERA) allowed just a run over eight innings at Oakland in New York's 4-1 win. The 36-year old Pettitte has pitched better than his statline, and he’s inducing ground balls at a rate well above his career peripheral. The southpaw is at his best when coming off high pitch counts, which isn’t a surprise considering his experience and his style of pitching.
In each of his starts this year that have followed a 100-plus pitch count outing, he’s come back with quality starts save a four-inning stint against the Rays on May 12th. That performance in Tropicana saw the lefty get little help from inconsistent home plate umpire Dan Iassogna and an aging Yankees defense. Pettitte’s last start in Oakland saw him throw 113 pitches over eight innings.
Pettitte’s K/BB (6.3) and K/9 (3.05) rates are the best they’ve been since his ’05 season in Houston, a campaign that saw him go 17-9 while striking out 171 batters in 222 innings. Pettitte’s Achilles’ this year has been the home run ball. After two sloppy outings against the Indians and Tigers in late April, starts that saw him give up two home runs in each game and five total in the month, he’s only allowed three in May and June (not counting the two wind aided long balls by KC in a 10 hit and 10 run loss where he was just plain unlucky).
Pettitte vs. San Diego hitters:
Michael Barrett is 6-for-18 with two home runs
Tony Clark is 5-for-28 (.179) with one home run
Jody Gerut is 1-for-3
Brian Giles is 3-for-13 (.231)
Adrian Gonzalez is 1-for-5
Khalil Greene is 1-for-5
San Diego is 29th in the majors at 3.8 per game and is hitting .237 against left-handed starters. The Under is 4-0 in the Padres' last four interleague games vs. a team with a winning record, and is 4-0 in Wolf's last four starts overall.
The Under is 12-3-1 in the Yankees' last 16 interleague games as a favorite of -151 to -200; is 6-1-1 in Pettitte's last 8 interleague starts; is 9-2 in Pettitte's last 11 starts with the total set at 9.0-10½, and is 9-3 in Pettitte's last 12 starts on grass.
Pitchers: Randy Wolf vs. Andy Pettitte
Umpire: Unannounced
Conditions: 73 degrees at first pitch with winds blowing to left field at 10 MPH. Temps and wind speeds are expected to drop rapidly as the game progresses with an overnight low of 55 expected in the Big Apple.
Free Pick: Padres-Yankees Under 9 (-110)