The Yankees caught a really big break yesterday. The rainout not only gave their key bullpen pieces another day of rest, but it also pushed Felix Hernandez out of the series. The Mariners opted to use the impromptu off-day to give their rotation extra rest, so Wednesday’s scheduled starter Roenis Elias will get the ball tonight while Felix pitches against whoever Seattle faces next tomorrow night. Now the Yankees just have to take advantage.
Hiroki Kuroda is on the bump for New York and his last start was a total disaster: eight runs on ten hits in only 4.2 innings. Ivan Nova is done for the year and Michael Pineda isn’t coming back for at least a month, so the team needs Kuroda to shake off his inconsistent start and get back to being the guy he was early last season. He doesn’t even need to be that good. He just needs to be better than he has been. I have faith in Kuroda and think he’ll turn it around soon enough. Preferably tonight. Here is the Mariners lineup and here is the Yankees lineup:
- CF Jacoby Ellsbury — guess the sore left hand is fine
- SS Derek Jeter
- RF Carlos Beltran
- DH Alfonso Soriano
- 1B Mark Teixeira
- C Brian McCann
- 3B Yangervis Solarte
- LF Brett Gardner
- 2B Brian Roberts
RHP Hiroki Kuroda
After a torrential downpour yesterday and into this morning, the sky is blue and there is no rain in sight. They won’t have any trouble getting the game in tonight. First pitch is scheduled for a little after 7pm ET and you can watch on YES locally and MLB Network nationally, depending on where you live. Enjoy.
Rotation Update: The rotation for this weekend’s series against the Rays will be Vidal Nuno (Friday), Masahiro Tanaka (Saturday), and CC Sabathia (Sunday), the Yankees announced. David Phelps threw an 80 or so pitch simulated game yesterday and will start on Monday.
Brendan Ryan Update: Ryan (back) has moved up to Double-A Trenton to continue his rehab. The team has said they want him to get 40-50 at-bats after missing Spring Training and right now he’s at 17 rehab plate appearances. Sure seems like he’s lined up to be activated off the DL on Tuesday, when Michael Pineda’s suspension expires and the Yankees get back to a normal 25-man roster.
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