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- Preview: Yankees at Blue Jays
- Current Conditions - Toronto
- P/SUNNY 77 °F
- Wind: SSE 12
- 5-Day Forecast
- GAME: New York Yankees (53-35) at Toronto Blue Jays (45-47)
- DATE/TIME: Thursday, July 14 - 7:07 PM EST
- WHERE: Rogers Centre, Toronto, Ontario
- LINE: -138, 130 TOTAL: 9.5
PITCHING MATCHUP: Yankees RH Bartolo Colon (6-4, 3.20 ERA) vs. Blue Jays LH Jo-Jo Reyes (4-7, 4.57 ERA).Thursday, July 14, 2011
TEAMS TIME (ET) NAT TV PITCHERS
Cleveland at Baltimore 7:05 PM Masterson vs Guthrie
NY Yankees at Toronto 7:07 PM Colon vs Reyes
Florida at Chicago Cubs 8:05 PM Sanchez vs Garza
Kansas City at Minnesota 8:10 PM Chen vs Liriano
Milwaukee at Colorado 8:40 PM Gallardo vs Jimenez
San Francisco at San Diego 10:05 PM Bumgarner vs Harang
Texas at Seattle 10:10 PM Holland vs Vargas
Colon has to rate as the most pleasant surprise in the first half for New York, especially after being out of the majors in 2010. He had a four-game winning streak snapped in his last start, allowing five runs and a season-high 10 hits in a 5-1 loss to Tampa Bay. Colon is 9-4 with a 3.84 ERA in 20 career starts vs. Toronto, but he was roughed up for six runs on seven hits in a 7-3 loss to the Blue Jays on May 23.
Reyes has faced the Yankees once in his career and it was a brief outing. He lasted three innings and was tagged for two-run homers by Mark Teixeira and Andruw Jones in a 7-3 loss at New York on May 25. That dropped Reyes to 0-4 on the season and extended his winless streak to 28 games. He has made eight starts since, going 4-3 and allowing at least four runs in four of those outings. He has not recorded a strikeout in his last two starts.
ABOUT THE BLUE JAYS (45-47): Toronto plays 40 of its final 70 games at home so the first priority will be to improve upon its 19-22 record at Rogers Centre. The highlight of the season has been the play of third baseman Jose Bautista, who proved last year’s 54-home season was no fluke by mashing a major league-leading 31 homers by the All-Star break. Bautista has hit safely in nine of 10 games in July, slugging seven homers and driving in 13 runs. Toronto traded OF Juan Rivera to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday for a player to be named later or cash considerations.
ABOUT THE YANKEES (53-35): New York has overcome a spate of injuries en route to compiling the third-best record in baseball. The Yankees will have a big void to fill in the lineup after third baseman Alex Rodriguez underwent surgery Monday to repair a meniscus tear in his right knee. He is expected to be sidelined from four to six weeks. Captain Derek Jeter became the first Yankee player to reach 3,000 hits with a 5-for-5 performance last Saturday. The second half could be a big challenge for New York, with 42 of 74 games away from home and several players on the wrong side of age 30.
FINAL PITCH: Bautista set a team record for most homers by the All-Star break, eclipsing the previous mark of 29 held by George Bell in 1987. He also became the first player since Mark McGwire in 1997-98 to lead the majors in homers at the All-Star break for two straight seasons.
