Second of two against the Rays tonight. The lineup, despite the absence of Jorge, doesn’t look too bad. Actually, put Molina in that 9 spot — or put him at 8 and Melky at 9 — and it looks pretty formidable. Not that I in any way want Jorge out of the lineup. Just saying…
Don’t let Johnny Damon’s poor line fool you. He got off to a slow start, but he’s racked up six walks and seven hits over the past seven games. Yeah, he’ll have to do a bit more in the hits department, but at least he’s getting on base. It’s still early. I wouldn’t write off Damon so quickly.
You know what I loved about last night? That there were three shots that I could yell “gone!” right off the bat: A-Rod, Ensberg, Cano. Maybe we get a couple tonight off Edwin Jackson. He’s been top-flight in his first two starts of the seasons, as we witnessed first hand two weeks ago. But he has a history of control problems. Let’s hope those resurface tonight.
Now, onto your lineup:
1. Johnny Damon, LF
2. Derek Jeter, SS
3. Bobby Abreu, RF
4. Alex Rodriguez, 3B
5. Hideki Matsui, DH
6. Jason Giambi, 1B
7. Robinson Cano, 2B
8. Melky Cabrera, CF
9. Chad Moeller, C
And on the mound, number 46, Andy Pettitte