So we’ve got ourselves a nice little pitching matchup today. CC Sabathia takes the hill for the Bombers, and has a 2.08 ERA and a 0.90 WHIP in his last five starts, averaging more than 7.2 IP per start. He’s held opponents to a Nick Punto-esque .501 OPS during that stretch. I guess the central idea, the main theme of this paragraph is that CC has been really, really good of late.
He’ll be opposed by the wunderkind David Price, who in two starts and nine innings this year has struck out 17 batters. The problem is that with high strikeout totals comes high pitch counts, and Price has reached the century mark at, or before the fifth inning in both of his starts. The Yankees lead the AL with a .358 team OBP, so the Rays bullpen could be in for a long day. Of course, with a pitcher like Price it could be the Yankees who are in for a long day.
Here’s the starting nine:
Jeter, SS
Damon, LF
Teixeira, 1B
A-Rod, 3B
Posada, DH
Cano, 2B
Swisher, RF
Melky, CF
Cervelli, C
And on the mound, CC Sabathia.