The Yanks have won 12 of their last 15, and things continue to look up as they head into Cleveland to play the last place Indians. The perennial trendy pick, Cleveland’s been doomed by the American League’s worst pitching staff, which sports a 5.41 ERA. They just ripped off four straight wins against the defending AL Champs and are sending the reigning AL Cy Young Award winner to mound tonight, so they probably feel pretty good about themselves right now.
Thankfully, the Yankees are getting a boost of their own in the form of Jorge Posada, who is returning from his hamstring injury tonight. In case you missed it earlier, the Yanks designated Kevin Cash for assignment to make room on the roster for Georgie. In all likelihood Cash will clear waivers and return to Triple-A, assumed he doesn’t opt to become a free agent. The Yanks also have an empty 40-man roster spot to play with, so they could call up an outfielder if Melky’s injury is worse than originally thought.
Here’s tonight’s lineup:
Jeter, SS
Damon, LF
Teixeira, 1B
A-Rod, 3B
Cano, 2B
Posada, C
Matsui, DH
Swisher, RF
Gardner, CF
And on the mound, the grizzled vet Andy Pettitte.
Note: In case ou’re interested, Stephen Strasburg takes on Virginia tonight on ESPNU. Game starts … now!
Update (6:57pm): Bryan Hoch says they rolled the tarp out and the game will not start on time. Consider it a blessing and flip over to check out some Strasburg action.