Game 141: Killing Meche

It’s been a busy couple of hours, so a few posts may have been buried. Make sure you check out the story of Troy Glaus receiving steroid shipmens and of outrageous prices for parking at the new Stadium. If you want some positive thoughts before the game, check out some words of encouragement for Andrew Brackman and the continued attendance growth at the Stadium. With 2008 being its last year, you can be sure it will only go up.

That said, here is tonight’s lineup:

1. Johnny Damon, LF
2. Derek Jeter, SS
3. Bobby Abreu, RF
4. Alex Rodriguez, 3B
5. Hideki Matsui, DH
6. Jorge Posada, C
7. Jason Giambi, 1B
8. Robinson Cano, 2B
9. Melky Cabrera, CF

Pete Abraham notes that Royals starter Gil Meche has an ERA over 8.00 in two starts against the Yankees this year.

Ron Villone, sadly, has been activated from the DL. I understand that Joba is young and inexperienced, and thus the Yankees want to keep him under close watch. But I just don’t get why Ron Villone is allowed to come into games with runners on base and Joba isn’t. It goes against logic, really. That rule will hopefully be lifted later in the season, when the playoff field starts to unfold more and we know exactly what we’re playing for (and against whom we’re playing it).

Recently DFA’d Kevin Thompson has been traded to the A’s for cash considerations. He could get some playing time there this month, as the A’s are riddled with injuries.

Should the AL Wild Card end in a tie between the Yankees and either the Tigers or Mariners, the Yanks would host the tie-breaking game. There were a bunch of other coin-flips held today. This was clearly the only one of interest.

Melky is hitting .256/.301/.295 since August 15. His approach has looked terrible lately, kinda like it did back in April. He’s swinging at the first pitch far too often, and is hitting weak choppers and infield pops at a rate you’d expect from a September call-up.

Here’s the pre-game question: If Melky continues to slide, do you play Minky at first, Giambi at DH, Damon in center, and Matsui in left later this month and, God willing, in the playoffs?