There’s nothing good about a loss to the worst team in baseball. The best thing the Yanks can do is put it behind them and trounce their inferior opponents this afternoon. Unfortunately the game is in limbo right now, as New York has morphed into a combination of Seattle and London. It has rained all freaking morning, and there are no signs of it letting up.
Yet the Yanks will do everything in their power to play this game today. The Nats will not be back in New York this season, so the two teams would have to find a mutual off-day on which to make it up. The Yanks have already blown three mutual off-days to make up games against the Angels, A’s, and Rays. Do they want to further burden themselves this summer? They could just do it on Monday, but that would put the Yanks in Florida, back to New York, and then down to Atlanta. Not optimal. Yet it’s the only off-day the two teams share for the rest of the season. I guess the only other solution is to make it up “if necessary.” That’s a shame, because the Yanks could use the win right now.
Joba Chamberlain gets the call for the Yanks. He’ll look to improve over his performance against the Mets, in which he tossed 100 pitches in just four innings. He’ll have Cervelli as a battery-mate this time, rather than Posada thanks to this being a day game after a night game. If Joba pitches well, look for plenty of clamoring for Posada DHing, Cervelli becoming the full-time catcher, and Matsui benched. They won’t necessarily be right, but they’ll be loud.
Rookie Craig Stammen toes the rubber for the Nats. He’s tossed 27.2 innings this year and, well, hasn’t fared so well. He’s struck out just 13 to nine walks, allowing 28 hits over that period. This is, of course, scary territory for the Yanks, as we saw on Tuesday night. Hopefully lightning only strikes once in this instance, however.
Lineup:
1. Brett Gardner, CF
2. Johnny Damon, LF
3. Mark Teixeira, 1B
4. Alex Rodriguez, 3B
5. Robinson Cano, 2B
6. Nick Swisher, RF
7. Hideki Matsui, DH
8. Francisco Cervelli, C
9. Ramiro Pena, SS
And on the mound, number sixty-two, Joba Chamberlain.
Update 3:15 p.m.: The Yankees have announced that first pitch is scheduled for approximately 4 p.m. today. It’s really dark outside, but the two teams are going to try to squeeze this one in.
Update 3:55 p.m.: The Yankees have just announced that “another round of showers is in the forecast. The start time for today’s game has been pushed back. First pitch time is TBA.” They should probably just pull the plug on this one.
Update 5:54 p.m: The game is set for a 6:30 p.m. first pitch. Reports from the stadium say that the tarp is coming off and the grounds crew is hard at work.
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