The pressure has been on the Yankees over the past few weeks as they’ve been neck and neck with the Baltimore Orioles battling for the top spot in the AL East. Winning 12 of their last 16 games, they’ve certainly responded to the pressure in a big way, but they don’t have any room for slip ups with just five games left to play in the regular season.
Andy Pettitte has been as dominant as they come on the mound for the since returning from injury, and his spectacular pitching has come at a time when the pinstripes needed it most. While other starters and the bullpen have shown signs of fatigue with the season winding down, Pettitte has come in and brought new life to the team lately. After spending two months on the DL with a broken ankle, the well-seasoned vet has bounced back looking better than ever, providing his club with 11 scoreless innings in two starts, resulting in two wins.
All hopes are that he will bring more of the same this afternoon in Toronto, so the Yankees can hang onto, or perhaps even expand on their one-game division lead. Two games left with the Blue Jays and a three-game set with the Red Sox, the Yankees have control of their own destiny and anything less than a division title would be a disappointment.
New York Yankees (91-66)
Derek Jeter, DH
Ichiro Suzuki, LF
Alex Rodriguez, 3B
Robinson Cano, 2B
Nick Swisher, 1B
Curtis Granderson, CF
Andruw Jones, RF
Eduardo Nunez, SS
Chris Stewart, C
Pitching: LHP Andy Pettitte (5-3, 2.71 ERA)
Game Time: 1:07 pm EST at Rogers Centre
TV: YES
Radio: WCBS 880, WADO 1280
