Well, since no one else made it I guess we'll test my luck again. Hope i'm not breaking any of the "rules" Scik. Game 1: Livan Hernandez vs. Joba Chamberlain Mets: Hernandez was ill while pitching seven shutout innings in a 7-0 victory against the Nationals in Washington on Sunday. It hardly showed except in stamina. He worked the corners of the strike zone, allowing four hits and four walks and striking out four. He asked manager Jerry Manuel to exit after 116 pitches, a tell-tale sign of energy loss, according to Manuel. Hernandez hasn't lost and the Mets have won five times in his eight most recent starts. He will be quite wary of Alex Rodriguez, who has three home runs, four doubles and a .625 batting average in 16 career at-bats against him. Yankees: Chamberlain followed a fantastic outing in Cleveland with a solid start against the Rays on Sunday. He surrendered three runs in six innings, ultimately picking up a no-decision in a Yankees win. After allowing just one run through the first five frames, Chamberlain gave up a two-out, two-run hit to Gabe Gross, marring an otherwise strong performance. -------------------- Game 2: Fernando Nieve vs. Andy Pettitte Mets: Scheduled starter John Maine was placed on the disabled list Thursday with fatigue in his right shoulder, so the Mets chose Nieve, who has pitched two scoreless innings out of the bullpen this season for the Mets after they called him up from Triple-A Buffalo on June 6. Nieve last served as a starter in the Majors in 2006, when he started 11 games for the Astros. Yankees: Pettitte appears to be improving from a back injury that knocked him out of a start prematurely on May 29. In his last outing, on Monday against the Rays, the left-hander allowed three runs (two earned) in six innings with seven strikeouts to pick up the win. He surrendered all three runs in the fourth, the big blow coming off a two-run home run by Gabe Kapler. -------------------- Game 3: Johan Santana vs. A.J. Burnett Mets: Santana picked up his eighth win of the season despite allowing four home runs, which tied a career high. Santana gave up eight hits and five earned runs in seven-plus innings against the Phillies but contributed the game-tying double in the sixth inning. Lifetime, Santana is 4-1 against the Yankees with a 3.15 ERA in seven career starts. That includes a 3-0 mark and a 2.05 ERA in the Bronx, although those stats may be irrelevant in the new Yankee Stadium. Santana went 1-1 in two starts against the Yankees last season, giving up seven earned runs in 13 2/3 innings. Yankees: Burnett will be trying to rebound from one of the worst starts of his career, lasting only 2 2/3 innings in a 7-0 loss to the Red Sox on Tuesday at Fenway Park. Burnett appeared too strong and unable to command his fastball, walking five and allowing five runs (three earned) in the start. As he makes his Subway Series debut, Burnett has still won two of his last three starts and is 2-6 with a 3.83 ERA in 16 career starts against the Mets, having last faced them in 2005. -------------------- My Take: I'm thinking that the Yankees should take 2/3 here, winning the first two games. With the Mets currently injury riddled, we have a chance to take all 3 if we can put up a couple of runs and Burnett stops sucking. Joba vs Livan is clearly (IMO) in the Yankees favor. Pettitte vs. Nieve should be since Nieve probably can't go deep into the game. Johan is Johan.
Yankees Lineup for Game 1: Jeter SS Swisher RF Teixeira 1B Rodriguez 3B Cano 2B Posada C Matsui DH Cabrera LF Gardner C I wish Damon was playing, but Swisher was pretty good last time he was in the 2-hole if I remember correctly
Mets lineup tonight is Cora, SS F Martinez, LF Beltran, CF Wright, 3B Church, RF Sheffield, DH Murphy, 1B Schneider, C Castillo, 2B
Finally no one between Beltran and Wright. We're still obviously very shorthanded, but there are worse line-ups.
Just like all the money the yankees spend. Theres nothing stopping the mets from doing anything the yankees do.
