Yankees vs. Orioles 6/26 Game Preview

It's a matchup of two of the best pitchers in the American League. Andy Pettitte and Jeremy Guthrie? Guthrie has allowed two or fewer runs in 9 of his 10 starts and should make the All Star team he has been so good. Meanwhile, Pettitte is coming off of a performance where, in his words, he "quit pitching" and just tried to throw the ball past hitters after he lost his confidence after a Matt Holliday 442 foot bomb of a home run. To me, that's kind of strange coming from a veteran pitcher with 190 career victories.

Fun fact for this game: Yankees have 573 career wins going for them in Pettitte (190), Clemens (349), and Wang (a mere 34). Baltimore has 75 wins between Guthrie (6), Bedard (32), and Cabrera (37). Gap would be even larger if Mike Mussina pitched in this series for the Yankees. Obviously though, I'd rather Wang be out there.

Lineups when they become available. Since the Yankees were off on a travel day yesterday, I would still assume that they would play their full lineup. We will see.

How depressing: Rockies 6, Yankees 1

Wow, that game was very demoralizing. Andy Pettitte rolled through the game, seemingly in control. However, so did Rockies pitcher Jeff Francis. Like I had predicted, the Yankees were ahead 1-0 on a RBI double by none other than Derek Jeter, scoring Melky Cabrera who also doubled. Alas, the game was not to be a good one for the Yankees, as Pettitte who was in control lost that control walking the pitcher Francis, and with two outs letting up a homer to one of the better players in all of baseball, Matt Holliday. The picture to your left is Pettitte right after the behemoth bomb. Things continued to get grim after that homer. The Yankee offense rolled over and died in one of the more pathetic half innings I have seen in a while in the top of the seventh. After this, Pettitte resumed his outing and got into further trouble, allowing a run and it was 3-1 Rockies.

Here is where I take issue with Joe Torre. Kaz Matsui up at the plate, Pettitte clearly laboring, and Torre keeps him in, instead of the suddenly decent Luis Vizcaino. So, what happens? You guessed it. Matsui hits a two RBI triple aided by a Hideki Matsui misplay in the leftfield corner. The Rockies would later add another run and the Yankees would go out like sheep in the eighth and ninth innings. Final score 6-1 Rockies.

WP: J. Francis (7-5)
LP: A. Pettitte (4-5)

New York Yankees: 35-34
Colorado Rockies-37-34