New York Yankees-Oakland Athletics Series Preview
August 17, 2009 · Doug Rush · Jump to comments
Article Source: Bleacher Report - New York Yankees
The Yankees continue their road trip when they begin a three game series at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum against the Oakland Athletics.
The Yankees come in at 74-44 and in first place in the American League East. They are also 7.5 games ahead of the Boston Red Sox. The Yankees have a 33-26 road record, which ranks second best in the American League.
The A’s are 52-65 and in last place in the American League West. The A’s are 27-30 at home. It’s pretty safe to say Oakland is not in playoff contention.
In seven meetings this season, the Yankees are 6-1 against Oakland. All of those game were played at the new Yankee Stadium.
All three of these games will begin at 10:05 p.m. on the east coast, so be prepared to stay up late if you want to watch any of these games.
Let’s look at the pitching matchups for this three game series.
Monday: A.J. Burnett (10-5, 3.71) vs Brett Tomko (1-2, 5.23)
For Yankee fans, there will be a familiar face on the mound tonight in white and green, former reliever Brett Tomko. Because Oakland has no depth in pitching this season, Tomko will be making the start. Tomko was unimpressive with the Yankees and if they are patient like they usually are, the Yankees offense could tee off on his mistakes and have a good day.
A.J. Burnett didn’t have his best start last time against the Blue Jays, but with the weak Oakland offense, he could be overpowering with his fastball and curveball. The key for Burnett is to not walking too many batters.
Tuesday: CC Sabathia (13-7, 3.64) vs Vin Mazzaro (4-8, 5.84)
The Yankees will be facing the New Jersey native Mazzaro for a second time this season. On July 23, Mazzaro only went 4 1/3 innings, allowed eight hits, six runs, walked four and struck out seven and lost in the Bronx. Mazzaro has decent stuff to be a good pitcher in the future, but because he’s learning, he has tendencies to make mistakes and a good team like the Yankees will make him overthrow some of his pitches.
On the other hand, Sabathia has been on a roll in August, winning his last three starts and is already past 170 innings, so he’s shown how durable and strong he can be. Sabathia should be able to have more success as he is getting stronger down the stretch.
Wednesday: Chad Gaudin (5-10, 5.13) vs Brett Anderson (7-8, 4.55)
The Yankees have faced Anderson twice this season. On April 22, the Yankees got to Anderson for nine hits and five runs in 5 1/3 innings. On July 24, the Yankees again got to the young lefty for nine hits and four runs in 6 2/3 innings and lost. Anderson is only 21 years old and could be a future ace for Oakland because of his powerful fastball and strikeout ability, but he too is still learning through growing pains as a rookie.
The Yankees will give Chad Gaudin his first start for the Yankees. He’s appeared twice for the Yankees. On August 8, he went two innings against the Blue Jays, pitching two scoreless innings and won the game. On Sunday, he pitched 1 1/3 against the Mariners, allowed four hits and two runs, so he was not sharp.
Gaudin can either be very dominant or extremely hittable, so how Gaudin is pitching will determine how the game will go for the Yankees.
Overall, the Yankees should be able to take two of three in the series with Burnett and Sabathia’s games, while taking their chances with Gaudin’s start. They won’t return to the west coast until late September, so they will have half of their west coast trips out of the way after Wednesday night.
They will have Thursday off to travel back to the east coast and play three more critical games at Fenway Park against the Red Sox.
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