Opening Day did not go according to plan last night, but that is nothing new for the Yankees, really. They’ve now lost three straight Opening Days and five of their last six. None of those previous losses crippled their season either. It sucks, get over it. There’s another game tonight.
While the offense did not show up until Scott Feldman was out of last night’s game, they will be facing a very different pitcher tonight. Jarred Cosart is a young power arm with both a huge fastball and huge strike-throwing problems. He walked more batters (35) than he struck out (33) during his MLB debut last summer — he did have a 16/5 K/BB in Spring Training, for what it’s worth — and if he has trouble finding the zone tonight, the Yankees have the kind of lineup that can take advantage. Alfonso Soriano is only true swing at everything hacker among the regulars.
Hiroki Kuroda is making his first start of the season and we really didn’t see all that much of him this spring. He only threw 11.1 innings during Grapefruit League play, instead doing a bunch of work in minor league games. With CC Sabathia still an unknown the three unpredictable younger guys at the back of the rotation, Kuroda needs to be the staff ace again, someone who Joe Girardi & Co. can count on for a quality outing every fifth day. Tonight he will be charged with getting the team their first win of 2014 and stopping a losing streak before it even begins. Here’s the lineup, which is the same as last night’s:
- CF Jacoby Ellsbury
- SS Derek Jeter
- RF Carlos Beltran
- C Brian McCann
- 1B Mark Teixeira
- DH Alfonso Soriano
- LF Brett Gardner
- 2B Brian Roberts
- 3B Kelly Johnson
RHP Hiroki Kuroda
Another hot and humid day in Houston, with on and off showers all day. The retractable roof at Minute Maid Park means we don’t have to worry about any of that. First pitch is scheduled for a little after 8pm ET and you can watch live on YES. Enjoy the game.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.