No breaks for the Yankees so far this year. They’ve faced the Red Sox, Rays and Angels so far — taken two of three from each — and this weekend they’ll host the Texas Rangers, who are off to a good start.
Both teams have their top three starters going in the series (I’m not sure if the Rangers have their best ordering though), so maybe these high-powered offenses can be held in check.
Pitching Matchups:
| Date: | Rangers starters | Yankees starters |
| Fri., 7:05 p.m. | C.J. Wilson (0-0, 0.00) | CC Sabathia (1-0, 3.46) |
| Sat., 1:05 p.m. | Scott Feldman (1-0, 2.57) | A.J. Burnett (1-0, 3.75) |
| Sun., 1:05 p.m. | Rich Harden (0-0, 2.79) | Andy Pettitte (1-0, 0.75) |
While filling in those statistics, it sparked me to see which pitchers have earned the Yankees’ three losses this year. Javier Vazquez has two and Chan Ho Park has one.
Players to Watch:
Rangers: Vladimir Guerrero. He’s been hitting cleanup for the Rangers and making the Angels look foolish for letting him go. He’s got 15 hits in 37 at-bats so far this year. Vladi’s also a .320/.372/.514 career hitter against the Yankees.
Yankees: Robinson Cano. He’s also got 15 hits this year (with one more AB), but he also has four homers and nine RBIs to go with it. Buster Olney talked about him on SportsCenter this morning and he said he’s really been taking advantage of being ahead in the count like Joe Mauer last year. Let’s see if he can continue this torrid run through the weekend.
Prediction:
It’s hard not to predict the Yankees will take two of three, but I’ll call for a sweep. I don’t see any of the top three starters losing — even Andy Pettitte, who has been awesome so far.
