So, I don't know if you've heard, but there's some hit record that one of the Yankees might pass this weekend. I'm not clear on the details; it's barely been discussed by sports writers and broadcasters.
Chris Tillman will face the Yankees for the first time in his career tonight in HR friendly Yankee Stadium. Tillman continues to battle his command, walking more than is comfortable and giving up too many home runs. I still look forward to his every start, because I know that eventually there will be one where he puts it all together, and even now he usually shows a brilliant moment for every meatball over the plate. He's such a tease.
Andy Pettitte is pitching for the Yankees. I don't want to talk about it.
The Yankees are very good this year. Surprise! They hit the snot out of the ball which is why they win so much. When the Yankees didn't make the postseason last year, they went out and spent almost a quarter of a billion dollars on two pitchers they hoped would stick at the top of their rotation and send them back to the playoffs. CC Sabathia has been very good, as expected, but the truth is he pretty much replaced 2008 Mike Mussina. He's been better than Mussina was in '08, but not by that much. AJ Burnett is certainly an upgrade over Sidney Ponson and Darrell Rasner (who combined for 35 starts for the Yanks in '08), but he isn't worth $16.5M. Overall, their pitching stats haven't been that different than they were in '08. They're above average, but not elite. They allow 4.66 runs/game, which is 14th in the majors (7th in the AL), but they score 5.72 runs/game, which is first. The Orioles are the opposite. They are dead last in runs allowed (5.39) and middle of the pack in runs scored (4.79).
But as we've seen, any team can win on any given day, so I'll try not to get too down before the game even starts.
Let's Go O's!
-Stacey