8.21.08 - NYY @ TOR: All Pregame Info & Discussion

[TheBamTino24]

Thanks to Andy Pettitte and Derek Jeter, the Yankees (67-59) won their 3rd game out of 4 last night in Toronto. The victory also enabled them to gain a game Boston in the chase for the AL Wild Card. Entering play today, the Yankees trail Boston by 5.5 games, and Minnesota by 5, with just 36 to play. Considering that New York and Boston will face off in a critical series next week, finishing off the remaining 4 games of this road trip through Toronto and Baltimore in solid fashion is essential.

Sidney Ponson (7-3, 4.19) starts tonight against Toronto RH Roy Halladay (14-9, 2.64).

Ponson has been outstanding for the Yankees in August. Over 4 starts he’s thrown to a 2.96 ERA over 27.1 innings, allowing just 22 hits and 9 walks to 9 strikeouts with 41 ground outs (30 AO). He has completed at least 6.1 IP in each of the 4 starts with his worst outing of the 4 being 7.2 IP, 4 ER against Minnesota. Despite the consistency, Ponson has earned just a 1-1 record for himself during this stretch. He has not faced Toronto this season.

Halladay continues to dominate the American League. While his overall body of work this season has put him into the Cy Young Award discussion, his month of August has been incredible. In 3 starts he’s pitched to a 1.14 ERA with 18 strikeouts and just 4 walks in 23.2 innings. Halladay has made 3 starts against New York this season and has owned the Yankees (2-1, 2.05 ERA):

• APR 1: 7 IP, 3 ER, 7 H, 2 BB, 3 K (L)
• JUN 3: 6 IP, 2 ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 3 K (W)
• JUL 11: 9 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 1 BB, 8 K (W)

LH vs. Halladay (399 AB): .233/.272/.348
RH vs. Halladay (315 AB): .235/.280/.340

Halladay vs. New York:

HITTER	AB	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
Johnny Damon	73	24	4	1	1	2	8	11	.329	.395	.452	.847
Derek Jeter	72	19	4	0	0	4	7	19	.264	.329	.319	.649
Jason Giambi	61	18	0	0	3	8	6	13	.295	.368	.443	.810
Alex Rodriguez	55	16	5	0	0	10	3	11	.291	.339	.382	.721
Jorge Posada	42	12	2	0	1	2	9	10	.286	.423	.405	.828
Hideki Matsui	40	9	1	0	1	4	3	3	.225	.279	.325	.604
Ivan Rodriguez	26	10	2	0	2	5	0	4	.385	.385	.692	1.077
Bobby Abreu	21	4	1	0	0	0	0	9	.190	.227	.238	.465
Robinson Cano	21	6	2	0	2	4	1	1	.286	.318	.667	.985
Jose Molina	11	1	1	0	0	0	1	3	.091	.167	.182	.348
Wilson Betemit	10	0	0	0	0	0	2	2	.000	.167	.000	.167
Xavier Nady	3	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	.667	.667	.667	1.333
Brett Gardner	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.250	.000	.250
Totals	438	121	22	1	10	39	40	86	.276	.344	.400	.743

Ponson vs. Toronto:

HITTER	AB	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
Vernon Wells	30	9	1	0	1	4	0	5	.300	.300	.433	.733
Matt Stairs	24	9	1	0	4	7	4	3	.375	.464	.917	1.381
Gregg Zaun	24	7	1	0	1	3	5	1	.292	.414	.458	.872
Scott Rolen	17	1	0	0	0	0	2	5	.059	.158	.059	.217
David Eckstein	15	4	1	0	0	0	1	1	.267	.353	.333	.686
Alex Rios	9	4	0	0	0	2	1	1	.444	.500	.444	.944
Kevin Mench	7	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	.143	.143	.143	.286
Aaron Hill	4	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	.500	.600	.500	1.100
Rod Barajas	3	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	.333	.333	.667	1.000
Lyle Overbay	3	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	.667	.667	.667	1.333
Brad Wilkerson	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.333	.333	.333	.667
Marco Scutaro	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.333	.333	.333	.667
John McDonald	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.000	.000	.000	.000
A.J. Burnett	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000
Totals	143	42	5	0	6	16	14	20	.294	.361	.455	.815

Resist temptation, Joe, and keep chugging out that regular lineup.

[Brick Tamland]

I hope the offense can put some runs on the board for Ponson. Big big game here. I'd feel pretty good about them going to Baltimore if they can take this series.

[Yankee Tripper]

I'd give Matsui the day off to rest the knee and get Damon out of CF today so he doesn't go 3 days in a row on turf. My lineup would be

Damon DH
Jeter SS
Abreu RF
A-Rod 3B
Nady LF
Giambi 1B
Cano 2B
I-Rod C
Gardner CF

Nice to see Bucholotz unable to hold a big lead yesterday and get sent to AA. Nicer still to see Andy go 7 strong a get a W.

I'm finally warming up to Ponson, he's been way better than I possibly imagined. He's had 2 really bad starts (TEX, BOS) one of which we actually won and he's kept us in the game or better in the rest of his starts, can't really ask any more of waiver wire pickup. And I'll admit I was 100% against his signing even though it was low risk. Nice to be wrong on that one, hope Sidney keeps keeping us in games.

[LeapsNbounds]

another day, another critical game. Just win and take the series.

[BRNXBMRS]

Must win agian, especially since its Halladay. Make me belive!

LETS GO YANKEES!

[goin for 27]

HUGE game, as we need to win every series from here on out. Tough to matchup against Doc Halladay, but the boys need to swing the bats from the get go.

[Bern baby Bern!]

IMO yankees need to go 25-9, hate putting numbers but I cannot see them getting in with less then 92 wins so lets start our run here boys 8 in a row starting with last night

[gold23]

Would be a nice bump if they could pull out tonight.....all expectations for the Jays to win, which is nice since in this game it generally goes the opposite. Halladay has thrown a lot of late, too....

[Yankees47]

IMO yankees need to go 25-9, hate putting numbers but I cannot see them getting in with less then 92 wins so lets start our run here boys 8 in a row starting with last night

Your right...No excuses with Halladay tonight because the offense has used the excuse of "Got to tip your cap to the pitcher tonight" wayy too many times...So that card has run out...They need a big win vs Halladay tonight and take that momentum and sweep Baltimore over the weekend...The key for the Yankees is hitting, they arent going to pitch their way into the postseason...They need A-Rod to be A-Rod and have Jeter continuing to get big hits...They need 4 straight before the off day and Boston or else the season is over...They cant go into a series just wanting to win 2 of 3 they must go into every game saying this is a playoff game and we cant lose it...That means Mo, Veras, and the rest of the pen is on call every single day from here on out

[Bern baby Bern!]

Your right...No excuses with Halladay tonight because the offense has used the excuse of "Got to tip your cap to the pitcher tonight" wayy too many times...So that card has run out...They need a big win vs Halladay tonight and take that momentum and sweep Baltimore over the weekend...The key for the Yankees is hitting, they arent going to pitch their way into the postseason...They need A-Rod to be A-Rod and have Jeter continuing to get big hits...They need 4 straight before the off day and Boston or else the season is over...They cant go into a series just wanting to win 2 of 3 they must go into every game saying this is a playoff game and we cant lose it...That means Mo, Veras, and the rest of the pen is on call every single day from here on out

I was just looking over the schedule, if we win every series here on out including this one against toronto the minimum amount of wins will be 25. That is not a tough feat to win 2 of 3 in every series so we gotta go out there and do it. We should sweep one of the baltimore series, and the seattle series and if we wanna get in we cannot afford to lose series against tampa, white sox and obviously boston. It is definitely in our reach if we play the way we are capable of. However, we don't seem to ever play the way we are capable of which then leaves me in doubt..

[kirbivore]

If that happened and they got the 25 wins the final record would be 92-70, which may be good enough for a WC this year.

[Bern baby Bern!]

exactly..

[Bostonsfavson]

Halladay has to have an off night at some point, right?


...right?

[JOBA RULES]

If we can pull this one out against Doc we'll have momentum going into BAL....I'm ready for a pinstripe run....

[LOHR21]

He does have 9 losses

he must be losing to someone

[JohnnyDamonfan]

Just fricken win. I know that we're not facing a rookie today but you can win today. Please Yankees don't let your fans down. And if you're only gonna score a couple of runs make sure Toronto scores less.

[jeterdaman]

This has disaster written all over it.

[sweet_lou_14]

He does have 9 losses

he must be losing to someone

This was exactly my thought.

And if there's one thing you can say about Sidney Ponson, it's that he is someone.

[Brick Tamland]

This was exactly my thought.

And if there's one thing you can say about Sidney Ponson, it's that he is someone.

made me laugh

[Bleacher_Creature]

Per lohud

YANKEES (67-59)
Damon LF
Jeter SS
Abreu RF
A. Rodriguez 3B
Giambi 1B
Nady LF
Matsui DH
Cano 2B
I. Rodriguez C
Ponson RHP

Looks like Girardi feels the Blue Jays will pull a lot tonight.....

http://yankees.lhblogs.com/

[yankswn23]

The Yankees are 58-0 when leading after eight innings. … The Red Sox and Rays are off today.

[yankswn23]

.
August
21 According to his agent, Carl Pavano has been told he will start against the Orioles on Saturday.

God help us all.

UPDATE, 2:46 p.m.: “He worked extremely hard to put himself in this position, to get back and help the this club,” agent Tom O’Connell told the Star-Ledger. “He’s really excited about the opportunity and he’s up to the challenge.”

[Yankee Tripper]

You can never have too many left fielders.

[ThePinStripes]

This was exactly my thought.

And if there's one thing you can say about Sidney Ponson, it's that he is someone.

maybe two!

[Brick Tamland]

.
August
21 According to his agent, Carl Pavano has been told he will start against the Orioles on Saturday.

God help us all.

UPDATE, 2:46 p.m.: “He worked extremely hard to put himself in this position, to get back and help the this club,” agent Tom O’Connell told the Star-Ledger. “He’s really excited about the opportunity and he’s up to the challenge.”

We'll see about that. I just don't even trust this guy to make it to Camden Yards intact much less give the Yankees a quality start.