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Courtesy of AP

Yankees vs Orioles (4/8/14)

Ivan Nova

Ivan Nova (1-0, 3.18 ERA) is coming off a hard fought win against the Astros to start the season. He will be up against Wei-Yin Chen (0-1, 6.35 ERA) in game two against the Os. Nova pitched without his sharp curveball in Houston, which made his start a battle. He had to rely on his sinker and his infield who turned four double plays to help him survive 5 2/3 innings with two runs on six hits.

Joe Girardi is looking forward to seeing Nova take the next step in his career this season. “Well, obviously, we think he’s got the talent and the stuff to have a big year, and that’s important if we want to get to where we want to get to,” Girardi said. “But that’s important for all of our starters to have good year, because you’re going to need to win a lot of games in our division to win our division and to move on.

Chen lasted just 5 2/3 innings in his first start against Boston. He gave up four earned runs on 12 hits in the loss. He is 0-2 with a 4.86 ERA in three career starts at Yankee Stadium. “I don’t think about that when I’m out there,” Chen said. “You may say it’s a challenge, but when I get on the mound, it’s just me and the hitter and I know I have to do better.”

The Core Four was reunited Monday for the ceremonial first pitch. Of the festivities Derek Jeter said, “I don’t know the last time we were all together; obviously, it was at some point last year during Spring Training. I was hurt a lot, so I don’t know if we were all really on the field at the same time, but those guys are like brothers to me. I think it will be a special moment, especially for a lot of the fans that grew up watching all four of us play, to see us all together again. I look forward to seeing them all the time.”

David Robertson went on the 15 day DL due to a strained left groin he suffered Sunday. Shawn Kelley, who closed out Monday’s win for his first career save, is likely to get the first chance to close while DRob is out.

 

Notes on the game.

With his hit yesterday, Derek Jeter now stands alone in 8th place on the all times hit list. He is 1st on the AL list for right handers, 4th total.

In 12 career games (11 starts) against Baltimore Nova is 5-2 with a 4.46 ERA.

 

First pitch at 1:05 PM on YES