Sunday, August 24, 2008
Five Days To Save A Season
While most of us buried the Yankees a week or two ago, they now have one, probably final, chance to save everything. This afternoon they send Darrell Rasner out against Daniel Cabrera. Rasner has had two great outings against Baltimore this season and one poor (though not horrible) one. Cabrera has fairly owned the Yankees this season, although before this season the Yankees hit him fairly well most of the time. Hopefully the Yankees’ bats are truly coming alive with Matsui back in the mix, and they can put a beating on Cabrera and win.
Meanwhile in Toronto, Daisuke Matsuzaka faces A.J. Burnett—Burnett has started five games against Boston in his career and is 4-0, with the Jays winning the ND. He’s had a 1.98 ERA in those starts, and held Boston to a .596 OPS. Toronto can win that game. If they do and the Yankees win, the Yankees will be 4 games behind Boston, and at worst 4½ out of the Wild Card (a year ago the Yankees were 3 out of the Wild Card).
If that’s the case, they come home to face Tim Wakefield with Andy Pettitte. They can definitely win that game. Sidney Ponson starts Wednesday, but so does Paul Byrd. They can win that game. The final opponent, Jon Lester, is by far the toughest, but fortunately they have Mike Mussina stating. They can win that game.
Will the Yankees sweep Boston? Probably not. There’s a good chance they could get swept or at least lose the series, but the chance of a sweep is there, and it presents the team with their last, best opportunity to get back into the race. If they win the next four and Boston loses today as well, they’ll be 1 game behind the Red Sox, and while Chicago will likely be the Wild Card leader at that point, the deficit would be smaller and seem far more reasonable. It’s not likely, but it’s eminently feasible.
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