Subway Series!
The Yankees and Mets kick off their annual four-game Subway Series tonight at Yankee Stadium with Hiroki Kuroda facing off against Bartolo Colon. Curtis Granderson returns for the first time since switching from the Bronx to Queens and everyone is deprived of getting to see more Colon batting footage for at least one turn through the rotation. We are all worse off for this being true.
Tonight's lineup: Gardner 7 Jeter 6 Ellsbury 8 Beltran DH McCann 2 Soriano Solarte 5 Johnson 3 Roberts 4 Kuroda 1
— Erik Boland (@eboland11) May 12, 2014After hitting a huge home run yesterday with two outs in the ninth, Mark Teixeira sits tonight in the series opener. It was obvious to anyone watching yesterday that Teixeira seemed like he could barely motor around the bases, which the Yankee first baseman attributed to "tired legs" after the game. It sounds like a non-injury for now, so hopefully it stays that way.
Or maybe it's more...?
"There is a little concern. It's low level."--Joe Girardi revealing Mark Teixeira had tightness in left groin, not in lineup today.
— Sweeny Murti (@YankeesWFAN) May 12, 2014Brett Gardner moves into the lead off spot with Jacoby Ellsbury batting third in the Tex-less lineup. Alfonso Soriano will play right field while Carlos Beltran serves as the DH. With the way Beltran has looked in the field, particularly since his over-the-wall tumble in Tampa it's difficult to argue with this move.
With CC Sabathia hitting the DL yesterday, Chase Whitley was suspiciously scratched from his start with the RailRiders. Whitley started Scranton's game today but threw only seven pitches in one inning of work. Seems like more than coincidence. The Yankees might need Whitley to serve as the long man in New York with Alfredo Aceves slotting into Sabathia's spot in the rotation, or even want Whitley to make a spot start himself. It seems as though they are dedicated to not letting him throw a start's worth of pitches until they figure out who will be taking Sabathia's start this Thursday. Whitley has performed well in the RailRiders' rotation this season, pitching to a 2.49 ERA over 25.1 innings while holding opposing batters to a .215 average.
Tonight's game will begin at 7:05 pm on YES.