The Yanks took care of business in a very professional manner this afternoon, beating Tampa with great pitching and rock solid situational hitting. They improved to 15-0 when tied after seven innings this year, which is just ridiculous. The magic number dropped to 18 for just a few minutes, because the Red Sox lost to Chicago not long after the Yanks’ game ended. If you missed it, here’s the Johnny Damon pic we briefly had up in the Magic Number Counter, but right now we’re rockin’ Oscar Gamble.

As for tonight’s game, the story will be AJ Burnett and how he performs. The big righty has put 29 men on base and allowed 18 runs in 16.1 IP over his last three starts, so he needs to make sure he rights the ship before the playoffs start. He’s got four (maaaaaaybe five) starts left this year to figure it out. Luckily, Burnett won’t have to face the dangerous Carlos Pena, who had two fingers broken when he got hit by a pitch in the first inning of this afternoon’s game. He’s done for the year, which is a huge blow to Tampa’s already slim playoff chances.

Joe Girardi said Phil Hughes and Mariano Rivera probably aren’t available for this game after pitching earlier, so it looks like it’s up to David Robertson, Damaso Marte, Phil Coke, and Brian Bruney to take care of business tonight. Hopefully they just pound the crap out of Andy Sonnanstine and make it a moot point. Here’s the lineup:

Jeter, SS
Damon, LF
Teixeira, 1B
Matsui, DH
Swisher, RF
Cano, 2B
Melky, CF
Hairston, 3B
Molina, C

And on the mound, AJ Burnett.

Let’s win this.

I bet the Yanks are happy to not be playing on artificial concrete turf. Not that it was the only cause for their woes yesterday, but whoooboy, was that one ugly. They’ll get two chances to redeem themselves today, and with their two best pitchers on the mound, no less.

Kicking things off will be CC Sabathia. Need we even look at how incredible he’s been since the break? Well, yes. If there’s one number I’d share about CC in the second half, it’s his strikeout to walks ratio, at a nasty 6:1 (72 strikeouts to 12 walks). CC was at 5.12 last season after the trade to Milwaukee. Sometimes the term “second half player” is bandied about without much statistical backing, but it’s absolutely true of Sabathia, at least over the last two seasons.

While a win would be redemption for the Yanks’ poor play yesterday, it would also be redemption for Sabathia. His last bad start was down in Tampa, when he allowed six runs, five earned, over 5.2 innings. He’s pitched just a little better since then.

Matt Garza is amid another solid season, though he’s dropped off a bit in the second half. After heading into the All-Star Break with a 3.73 ERA, he’s pitched to a 4.58 ERA in the second half to this point, raising his overall ERA to 4.11. The raise is mostly due to a short start in Anaheim, in which he allowed four runs in 3.1 innings, and a shelling at the hands of the Tigers.

This will mark Garza’s fourth start against the Yanks this year. He’s done a fine job each time, but the Rays are 1-2 in those games. In the last one he allowed three runs over seven innings, though the Yanks should have punished him a bit more for the 11 baserunners he allowed. Maybe he’ll wave goodbye to another Robinson Cano home run today.

The Yanks made two roster moves today, recalling Shelley Duncan and activating Brett Gardner from the disabled list. Gritt Girtner gets the start in center for the first game.

Lineup:

1. Derek Jeter, SS
2. Nick Swisher, RF
3. Mark Teixeira, 1B
4. Alex Rodriguez, 3B
5. Robinson Cano, 2B
6. Jorge Posada, C
7. Eric Hinske, DH
8. Melky Cabrera, LF
9. Brett Gardner, CF

And on the mound, number fifty-two, CC Sabathia.