Some Thoughts Before The Final Subway Series Game Tonight

Again, why is Robinson Cano batting 5th?

• 0 for his last 9 ABs in RISP. Last hit with RISP was June 16th against the Nationals.
  
• Men on: .263/.299/.431
  
• With RISP: .222/.258/.356
• Runner on 3rd, less than 2 outs: .200/.222/.333
  
• Runner on 3rd, 2 outs: .200/.231/.200
  

Chien-Ming Wang against the Mets (sorted by OPS):

                   PA  AB  H  2B 3B HR RBI  BB  SO   BA   OBP   SLG   **OPS**   SH  SF IBB HBP GDP
+-----------------+---+---+---+--+--+--+---+---+---+-----+-----+-----+---------+---+---+---+---+---
Ryan Church         4   3   1  0  0  1   2   1   0  .333  .500 1.333   1.833     0   0   1   0   0
Alex Cora          18  18   5  0  0  1   4   0   0  .278  .278  .444    .722     0   0   0   0   0
David Wright        8   8   2  1  0  0   0   0   1  .250  .250  .375    .625     0   0   0   0   1
Jeremy Reed         7   6   1  1  0  0   1   1   1  .167  .286  .333    .619     0   0   0   0   0
Luis Castillo       6   5   1  0  0  0   0   1   0  .200  .333  .200    .533     0   0   0   0   0
Gary Sheffield      3   2   0  0  0  0   0   1   0  .000  .333  .000    .333     0   0   0   0   0
Brian Schneider     4   4   0  0  0  0   0   0   1  .000  .000  .000    .000     0   0   0   0   0
+-----------------+---+---+---+--+--+--+---+---+---+-----+-----+-----+---------+---+---+---+---+---
Total              50  46  10  2  0  2   7   4   3  .217  .280  .391    .671     0   0   1   0   1

Livan Hernandez against the Yankees (sorted by OPS):

                   PA  AB  H  2B 3B HR RBI  BB  SO   BA   OBP   SLG   **OPS**   SH  SF IBB HBP GDP
+-----------------+---+---+---+--+--+--+---+---+---+-----+-----+-----+---------+---+---+---+---+---
Mark Teixeira       6   6   3  0  0  2   3   0   1  .500  .500 1.500   2.000     0   0   0   0   0
Alex Rodriguez     22  19  11  5  0  3  10   3   3  .579  .636 1.316   1.952     0   0   0   0   0
Hideki Matsui       8   7   3  0  0  1   3   1   0  .429  .500  .857   1.357     0   0   0   0   0
Robinson Cano       9   9   4  0  0  1   1   0   0  .444  .444  .778   1.222     0   0   0   0   0
Jorge Posada       16  12   4  1  0  1   2   4   4  .333  .500  .667   1.167     0   0   0   0   0
Derek Jeter        21  19   8  3  0  1   2   1   0  .421  .429  .737   1.166     0   1   0   0   0
Brett Tomko         5   4   2  0  0  0   0   0   2  .500  .500  .500   1.000     1   0   0   0   0
Brett Gardner       2   2   1  0  0  0   0   0   0  .500  .500  .500   1.000     0   0   0   0   0
Melky Cabrera       5   5   2  0  0  0   1   0   0  .400  .400  .400    .800     0   0   0   0   0
Nick Swisher       14  14   5  1  0  0   0   0   3  .357  .357  .429    .786     0   0   0   0   0
Johnny Damon       15  13   2  0  0  0   1   2   3  .154  .267  .154    .421     0   0   0   0   1
Cody Ransom         1   1   0  0  0  0   0   0   0  .000  .000  .000    .000     0   0   0   0   0
+-----------------+---+---+---+--+--+--+---+---+---+-----+-----+-----+---------+---+---+---+---+---
Total             124 111  45 10  0  9  23  11  16  .405  .455  .739   1.194     1   1   0   0   1

The Yankees have had much more success against Hernandez, but how Chien-Ming Wang has pitched so far this season, that's not much of a predictor of future success. ESPN Insider says that Wang continues to get less ground balls per start, which is usually bad news but may be OK in this cavernous ballpark, Citi Field.

Yankees lineup with have Derek Jeter back in it according to the New York Daily News' Mark Feinsand via Twitter: @bloggingbombers: June 28 vs Mets: Jeter SS, Swisher RF, Teixeira 1B, A-Rod 3B, Cano 2B, Posada C, Cabrera LF, Gardner CF, Wang RHP. With Damon having struggled in the past against Hernandez and coming back from injury, this makes sense.

Meanwhile, Buster Olney on why A.J. Burnett dominated yesterday:

Why Yankees starter A.J. Burnett won, from ESPN Stats & Information:

• Dominant curveball: 48 percent chase percentage, 63 percent miss percentage, 19 percent in-play percentage

• Finished the job: 21 of 26 pitches with two strikes in the count were strikes, and he earned a season-high 10 strikeouts

• No-fly zone: Season-low five fly ball outs in seven innings of work

Yankees go for the sweep and I head out to Flushing tonight to see if they can accomplish it. More updates later.

Braves Fans Stating the Obvious

Check out the top left corner of the picture. The Braves fans wanted to make sure the whole world knew that Alex Rodriguez cheats and so they taped it to the stairs so it would be on TV (it has since been taken down).

But we already knew he cheated on his wife so I don't know why this is anything new...maybe he's cheated on Kate Hudson and she sent an operative to post the sign.



Ohhhh.....they mean he takes steroids? I get it!

Well I guess that it's working as he's having a big game along with the rest of the Yankees offense. This offensive outburst is what the Yankees desperately needed. Now they can come back for the Subway Series Part Deux and feel comfortable about their offense.

Well, until they try to hit homeruns in Citi Field...