Chien-Ming Wang gets another start following a Yankees loss, a situation in which the team is 27-7 in the last 34 tries. He struck out nine last time against the Indians. Here’s to hoping he has them just as off kilter tonight.
Despite his beautiful opposite-field double last night, Jason Giambi sits against lefty Cliff Lee. It’s not so much that Lee is 5-0 with an ERA under 1.00. It’s that lefties are 5 for 41 against him this season. Damon, Abreu, Matsui, and Cano all get the nod, though.
Our cleanup hitter, once again, is on the interstate. Yes, it’s a terribly small sample size — 27 plate appearances — but Shelley has just one extra base hit all season. I understand the desire to split up the lefties in the lineup. But at this point — and no one ever thought I’d say this — you’re better off moving Melky into that spot.
Your lineup:
1. Johnny Damon, LF
2. Derek Jeter, SS
3. Bobby Abreu, RF
4. Shelley Duncan, 1B
5. Hideki Matsui, DH
6. Melky Cabrera, CF
7. Robinson Cano, 2B
8. Morgan Ensberg, 3B
9. Jose Molina, C
And on the mound, number forty, Chien-Ming Wang