Tonight's Pitching Matchup: Yankees vs. Twins Game 1

As I tried to do all of last season, I'm going to try to put up a match-up report for each game of the playoffs in 2010. Here's a quick recap of what each pitcher has done against the opposition:

CC Sabathia vs. the Twins hitters (including playoffs)

	PA	AB	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	HBP	GDP
Alexi Casilla	13	13	9	2	0	0	1	0	1	.692	.692	.846	1.538	0	0
Jim Thome	30	27	4	0	0	4	6	2	14	.148	.233	.593	.826	1	0
Denard Span	7	7	2	1	0	0	0	0	1	.286	.286	.429	.714	0	1
Michael Cuddyer	59	55	12	3	0	1	7	3	11	.218	.271	.327	.598	1	1
Joe Mauer	28	26	6	2	0	0	2	2	10	.231	.286	.308	.593	0	0
Nick Punto	42	39	8	1	0	0	2	2	6	.205	.244	.231	.475	0	1
Orlando Hudson	9	9	2	0	0	0	0	0	3	.222	.222	.222	.444	0	0
Delmon Young	18	18	3	1	0	0	0	0	5	.167	.167	.222	.389	0	1
Matt Tolbert	3	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.333	.000	.333	1	0
Jason Kubel	5	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	.000	.000	.000	.000	0	1
Total	214	201	46	10	0	5	18	9	54	.229	.272	.353	.626	3	5

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 10/6/2010.

The Jim Thome line (detailed here) is a very weird one. They only faced each other 2006-2009, but in the 27 official at-bats, Thome has 14 K and 4 hits--but the 4 hits are all home runs (with 3 coming in 2008). Alexi Casilla is the one other player with some success, though 13 PAs is not a large sample size. Sabathia started one game in the playoffs last year against the Twins (Game 1 of the ALDS) and he got the win, pitching 6.2 innings, giving up 8 hits, 2 runs (only one earned), striking out 8 and walking no one (though he did hit a batter). Both runs were scored in the 2nd inning thanks to an RBI single by Michael Cuddyer and a passed ball (full recap of that game can be found here). Overall, the hefty lefty has held the Twins in check, most importantly Joe Mauer who has only reached base 8 times in 28 plate appearances vs. Sabathia. Overall, Sabathia is 13-8 with a 3.05 ERA in 191.2 innings vs the Twins in the regular season.

Francisco Liriano vs. the Yankees hitters (including playoffs)

	PA	AB	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	HBP	GDP
Kevin Russo	3	3	2	1	0	0	1	0	1	.667	.667	1.000	1.667	0	0
Marcus Thames	15	14	5	0	0	3	4	0	4	.357	.400	1.000	1.400	1	0
Austin Kearns	6	5	2	2	0	0	1	1	2	.400	.500	.800	1.300	0	0
Derek Jeter	15	13	5	1	0	1	3	2	2	.385	.467	.692	1.159	0	1
Jorge Posada	8	7	3	1	0	0	0	0	3	.429	.500	.571	1.071	1	0
Brett Gardner	9	9	3	0	1	0	3	0	1	.333	.333	.556	.889	0	0
Nick Swisher	18	17	5	2	0	0	0	1	5	.294	.333	.412	.745	0	0
Robinson Cano	14	13	4	1	0	0	0	1	1	.308	.357	.385	.742	0	0
Curtis Granderson	25	22	4	1	0	1	3	2	12	.182	.250	.364	.614	0	0
Mark Teixeira	18	17	3	0	0	1	1	1	8	.176	.222	.353	.575	0	2
Alex Rodriguez	13	9	1	0	0	0	1	4	4	.111	.385	.111	.496	0	0
Francisco Cervelli	6	4	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	.000	.200	.000	.200	0	0
Lance Berkman	3	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000	0	1
Chad Moeller	3	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	.000	.000	.000	.000	0	0
Total	156	139	37	9	1	6	17	13	46	.266	.338	.475	.812	2	4

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 10/6/2010.

A few players like Kevin Russo and Chad Moeller aren't on the postseason roster, but I figured I'd add them here for comparison. Marcus Thames has been very good vs. Liriano in limited time and figures to be in the lineup tonight. I would like to see Brett Gardner in the lineup tonight and he has hit Liriano find in his 9 PAs, but Austin Kearns has hit Liriano as well and it'll be interesting to see which way Joe Girardi goes. Jorge Posada and Derek Jeter have been very good against Liriano as well, but the possible 2-3-4 of the Yankees lineup (Curtis Granderson, Mark Teixeira, and Alex Rodriguez) have struggled. It would make sense to hit Nick Swisher second in this game (or hit Brett Gardner leadoff) and move Curtis Granderson (12 Ks in 22 ABs) down in the order tonight. Liriano pitched in relief of Game 1 of the ALDS last year and gave up a two-run blast to Hideki Matsui. Overall, Liriano is 0-2 in the regular season vs. the Yankees, pitching 26 innings in 5 games, striking out a batter per inning but has a WHIP of 1.500.