Yanks @ Rangers series
Posted: Mon Aug 4, 2008 4:52 am
Here are the pitching matchups
Game 1: RHP Joba Chamberlain (4-3, 2.24) vs. RHP Vicente Padilla (12-5, 4.52) - Yankee hitters don't have as much experience/success against Padilla as you'd expect. Carl Pavano is actually our best hitter off him (2 for 3). The only other guys hitting over .250 off of him are ARod (2 for 7) and Cano (2 for 5). The only guys with homers off him are ARod and IRod. So its a good thing we have Joba for this one, but his only subpar start this season came against Texas (the night he simply had zero control and walked the ballpark).
Game 2: LHP Andy Pettitte (12-8, 4.18) vs. LHP Matt Harrison (2-2, 7.40) - No Yankee has ever faced Harrison. He completely sucks, in 24.1 innings he has walked 14 hitters and struck our just 4. Absolutely a must win game given the matchup, and Pettitte is the type of guy who bounces back from rough outings, plus the only core player of the Rangers with any success off Pettitte is Kinsler.
Game 3: RHP Sidney Ponson (6-2, 4.23) vs. RHP Tommy Hunter (0-0, 10.80) - Same as Harrison, we have never seen him. He has only thrown 5 innings in his entire career. This would be a must win, but we suck against guys we have never seen and Ponson can give up 35 runs on any given night.
Game 4: RHP Mike Mussina (14-7, 3.44) vs. RHP Scott Feldman (4-4, 4.97) - Jeter has the most at bats against Feldman (just 4), so not much of a sample size to base anything off of.
Considering that we have our best 4 going and we are facing a couple of guys with minimal experience and absolutely zero success, anything less than 3 out of 4 would be unacceptable especially when you consider the momentum we should have from today's win.
Game 1: RHP Joba Chamberlain (4-3, 2.24) vs. RHP Vicente Padilla (12-5, 4.52) - Yankee hitters don't have as much experience/success against Padilla as you'd expect. Carl Pavano is actually our best hitter off him (2 for 3). The only other guys hitting over .250 off of him are ARod (2 for 7) and Cano (2 for 5). The only guys with homers off him are ARod and IRod. So its a good thing we have Joba for this one, but his only subpar start this season came against Texas (the night he simply had zero control and walked the ballpark).
Game 2: LHP Andy Pettitte (12-8, 4.18) vs. LHP Matt Harrison (2-2, 7.40) - No Yankee has ever faced Harrison. He completely sucks, in 24.1 innings he has walked 14 hitters and struck our just 4. Absolutely a must win game given the matchup, and Pettitte is the type of guy who bounces back from rough outings, plus the only core player of the Rangers with any success off Pettitte is Kinsler.
Game 3: RHP Sidney Ponson (6-2, 4.23) vs. RHP Tommy Hunter (0-0, 10.80) - Same as Harrison, we have never seen him. He has only thrown 5 innings in his entire career. This would be a must win, but we suck against guys we have never seen and Ponson can give up 35 runs on any given night.
Game 4: RHP Mike Mussina (14-7, 3.44) vs. RHP Scott Feldman (4-4, 4.97) - Jeter has the most at bats against Feldman (just 4), so not much of a sample size to base anything off of.
Considering that we have our best 4 going and we are facing a couple of guys with minimal experience and absolutely zero success, anything less than 3 out of 4 would be unacceptable especially when you consider the momentum we should have from today's win.