Toronto Blue Jays (42-40) at New York Yankees (47-33), 1:05 p.m.
Probable Starting Pitchers: Toronto - Brett Cecil (2-1, 5.09) New York - Joba Chamberlain (4-2, 3.89)
The red-hot New York Yankees will try to continue their strong play when they take on the Toronto Blue Jays in the third installment of a four-game set at Yankee Stadium.
Brett Cecil will toe the rubber for the Blue Jays this afternoon, as the southpaw will be filling in for Scott Richmond, who was placed on the 15- day disabled list with shoulder tendinitis. Cecil has gained some experience this season, making six starts on the year.
However, his last start was a nightmare, as the young hurler was tortured by Cincinnati. In the 7-5 loss to the Reds, Cecil was hammered for five runs on nine hits in three innings of work.
This will be Cecil's first-career start against New York.
For the Yankees to be successful today they will need Joba Chamberlain, who has one victory in his last five starts, to return to his early season form.
New York's flamethrower only lasted 5 1/3 innings in his last start, allowing three runs on nine hits against Seattle. New York eventually won the game by an 8-5 margin, but the confident right-hander did not factor in the decision.
The Nebraska native has made nine appearances against Toronto (two starts) and his time on the mound against the Blue Jays has been very successful. In 19 2/3 innings of work against Toronto, Chamberlain owns a 1.83 earned run average and has 29 strike outs in 19 2/3 innings.
On Saturday, Jorge Posada's single in the bottom of the 12th inning lifted the Yankees to a 6-5 win over Toronto.
Posada also hit a homer and finished with two RBI, Johnny Damon hit a two-run homer, Hideki Matsui added a solo blast and Alex Rodriguez also drove in a run for the Yankees, who have taken the first two games of the series and have won nine of their last 10 contests.
Brett Tomko (1-2) pitched a scoreless inning for the win. Starter Chien-Ming Wang was charged with six hits and four runs over 5 1/3 innings before leaving due to injury. An MRI after the game revealed a right shoulder strain as well as bursitis, meaning Wang may miss a month's worth of action.
"We got the win, that's the most important thing and the bullpen did an amazing job, keeping us in the game and giving us a chance to win in the last at-bat," said Posada.
Alex Rios collected two hits and drove in three runs for the Blue Jays, losers in six of their last seven. Adam Lind homered and knocked in a pair while Marco Scutaro hit safely twice and scored once in defeat.
Shawn Camp (0-4) took the loss, charged with the deciding run on two hits despite four strikeouts over 2 1/3 innings. Roy Halladay was tagged for nine hits, including three homers, and five runs in his seven-inning start.
"I felt good, made a poor pitch to Matsui, bad one to Posada, thought I got it in enough on Damon, but got in bad situations early with walks to Damon and it cost me a couple of runs," said Halladay. "I didn't feel like any one thing was missing, just at times made poor pitches."
The Yankees won two of three matchups in Toronto from May 12-14 and have won six of the eight most recent meetings between the teams.
Probable Starting Pitchers: Toronto - Brett Cecil (2-1, 5.09) New York - Joba Chamberlain (4-2, 3.89)
The red-hot New York Yankees will try to continue their strong play when they take on the Toronto Blue Jays in the third installment of a four-game set at Yankee Stadium.
Brett Cecil will toe the rubber for the Blue Jays this afternoon, as the southpaw will be filling in for Scott Richmond, who was placed on the 15- day disabled list with shoulder tendinitis. Cecil has gained some experience this season, making six starts on the year.
However, his last start was a nightmare, as the young hurler was tortured by Cincinnati. In the 7-5 loss to the Reds, Cecil was hammered for five runs on nine hits in three innings of work.
This will be Cecil's first-career start against New York.
For the Yankees to be successful today they will need Joba Chamberlain, who has one victory in his last five starts, to return to his early season form.
New York's flamethrower only lasted 5 1/3 innings in his last start, allowing three runs on nine hits against Seattle. New York eventually won the game by an 8-5 margin, but the confident right-hander did not factor in the decision.
The Nebraska native has made nine appearances against Toronto (two starts) and his time on the mound against the Blue Jays has been very successful. In 19 2/3 innings of work against Toronto, Chamberlain owns a 1.83 earned run average and has 29 strike outs in 19 2/3 innings.
On Saturday, Jorge Posada's single in the bottom of the 12th inning lifted the Yankees to a 6-5 win over Toronto.
Posada also hit a homer and finished with two RBI, Johnny Damon hit a two-run homer, Hideki Matsui added a solo blast and Alex Rodriguez also drove in a run for the Yankees, who have taken the first two games of the series and have won nine of their last 10 contests.
Brett Tomko (1-2) pitched a scoreless inning for the win. Starter Chien-Ming Wang was charged with six hits and four runs over 5 1/3 innings before leaving due to injury. An MRI after the game revealed a right shoulder strain as well as bursitis, meaning Wang may miss a month's worth of action.
"We got the win, that's the most important thing and the bullpen did an amazing job, keeping us in the game and giving us a chance to win in the last at-bat," said Posada.
Alex Rios collected two hits and drove in three runs for the Blue Jays, losers in six of their last seven. Adam Lind homered and knocked in a pair while Marco Scutaro hit safely twice and scored once in defeat.
Shawn Camp (0-4) took the loss, charged with the deciding run on two hits despite four strikeouts over 2 1/3 innings. Roy Halladay was tagged for nine hits, including three homers, and five runs in his seven-inning start.
"I felt good, made a poor pitch to Matsui, bad one to Posada, thought I got it in enough on Damon, but got in bad situations early with walks to Damon and it cost me a couple of runs," said Halladay. "I didn't feel like any one thing was missing, just at times made poor pitches."
The Yankees won two of three matchups in Toronto from May 12-14 and have won six of the eight most recent meetings between the teams.
