David Huff (2-0, 1.13 ERA) gets his first start since he took over for Hughes and takes on John Lackey(8-12, 3.22 ERA.) Huff has been nearly unhittable since being called up on August 15th, giving up just one run on six hits over 15 innings of relief. “For me, it’s just another start,” said Huff. “I’m not going to try and play it up to make it anything different. Because when that happens, I’ll probably end up getting a little too fine with my pitches instead of just attacking guys.”
Lackey’s last time out against the Yankees, he got a season high 17 ground balls as he threw 6 2/3 innings of one run ball. He’s had four straight quality starts.
The Yankees are a half game behind Baltimore for fourth place in the American League East after Friday’s loss. They have scored eight runs twice in a row and lost consecutive games for the first time since 1949. The last time they did that twice in a row and lost at home was in 1911 against Cleveland. The Yankees are now 10 games out of first place in the AL East, but they’re 5-3 on their current homestand and 5-9 this season against the Red Sox. Hiroki Kuroda and Jon Lester will be matched up in Sunday’s series finale, and both teams are playing with playoff urgency.
“They’re pretty disciplined hitters,” said Huff. “I think what we had trouble with was going ball one, ball two, and they you’re falling behind and trying to work back into the count. I think if we just maintain that aggressiveness, get after these hitters and put them in a hole, we’ll get some swing and misses.”
Alfonso Soriano continues to pay dividends for the Yankees. He homered again on Friday and has now gone deep 13 times in 39 games since arriving from the Cubs in a midseason trade. Soriano’s latest homer was his 30th, which marks his seventh season reaching that statistical peak.
First pitch at 1:05 PM on Fox
