After a convincing series win in Oakland, the Yankees look to win their third series in a row against the Mariners. Last time these two teams hooked up, the Mariners hit the Yankees pretty well, but the Yankees were able to salvage one game in the series. A series win or sweep would send the Yankees off in high spirits into the All Star break.
Andy Pettitte (10-2, 2.82) vs Jason Vargas (6-4, 3.22)
This is a match up of a pitcher (Pettitte) with a massive sample size versus a pitcher (Vargas) with a small sample size, but unfortunately for the Yankees, games are not played on paper. Pettitte comes in and looks to even up his 10-11 career record against the Mariners, but his 4.52 career ERA does not bode well for him. Opposing him, Vargas, has pitched twice (one start) against the Yankees and has allowed 5 runs over 6 innings.
Phil Hughes (10-2, 3.83) vs Cliff Lee (8-3, 2.34)
The last time Phil took the mound against the Mariners, they slammed him with 7 runs (6 earned) with 10 hits over 5.2 innings in a loss. This has been a disturbing trend for Phil lately and hopefully he can turn it around against a still light hitting team. Opposing him is none other then Cliff Lee. We all know how good he his and how the Yankees are targeting him at the end of the season. What you may not know is that over the last 28 innings against the Yankees Cliff has allowed 8 runs (7 earned) to score. The M’s need more of that pitching to corral how the Yankees have been hitting lately.
Javier Vazquez (7-7, 4.81) vs Felix Hernandez (6-5, 3.01)
In Javy’s last game against the Mariners he went 6 innings and only allowed 3 runs, but he ran into Felix Hernandez who pitched a complete game shut out in New York. While unlikely, it is very possible that Felix could throw another stellar game, so Javy has to pitch better than his 4.37 ERA shows against the M’s.
CC Sabathia (11-3, 3.19) vs Erik Bedard (0-0, 0.00)
Erik Bedard returns after injuries have set him back the last two years as a member of the Mariners. Unluckily for him, he comes in against a team that has hit him pretty well. The Bombers have hit Bedard to a tune of a 4.32 ERA with 65 hits and 35 runs over 66.2 innings. Opposing him is CC who has experienced good fortune against the M’s registering a record of 7-2 with a sub 3.00 ERA. CC is the only Yankee pitcher to claim victory over the M’s at this point.
What to look out for: Seattle’s hitting still isn’t great (sub .245 batting average), so they will have to depend on their pitching to keep them in it. It’s likely a split will come of this series unless Felix or Lee fall off the horse and completely fail in their job. Considering Bedard is coming off a long lay off, the M’s may dip into their bullpen a little early in the last game.
M. B. Rozell
Kevin Rozell
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