The Yankees veteran starter is seemingly pitching for a spot on the All-Star roster and leading his team to victory.
Toronto Blue Jays at New York Yankees
Toronto picked up a 6-1 extra-innings victory over the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium on Saturday afternoon. The Blue Jays streak of games without a home run was pushed to five games, as the team leads the majors with 115 home runs. The six-run outburst was a relief to fans based on the team scoring just 1.8 runs per game during its five-game losing streak. Toronto’s pitching staff has been doing a tremendous job against the league’s second-best offense this year, posting a 1.55 ERA in four games against the Bronx Bombers. A victory in game two of this series will be hard to come by, with the team producing a 7-13 record against left-handed starters (-560). These struggles are nothing new due to the club’s 49-64 mark against southpaws the last three years (-2,020).
Blue Jays starting pitcher Ricky Romero is 6-4 with a 2.83 ERA in 16 starts this season (+160), with his club managing to score a total of one run in his last two outings. The left-hander has compiled a 2-3 record and 4.23 ERA in nine road starts (-120), issuing 25 free passes in just 55.1 innings of work. Opposing batters are hitting .290 against him on the road compared to just .178 at the Rogers Centre. Romero will be making his fifth career start against the Yankees, producing an even 1-1 mark and 4.74 ERA. He has a sensational 10-3 career record and 2.57 ERA in 19 daytime starts, which has continued with 3-1 mark and 1.53 ERA in eight such starts in 2010.
New York fell to 1-3 on its current homestand and is in jeopardy of losing just its fourth home series out of 14 on the year. Even the team’s last four wins have been anything but dominating, with all being decided by two-or-fewer runs. At 48-31 (+50) in 2010 and have the best record in baseball, leading the AL East by a half game. Success during this month of the season has become a standard around Yankee Stadium, with the club tallying 17 consecutive winning Julys, including a 18-9 mark in 2009.
Yankees starting pitcher Andy Pettitte is 9-2 with a 2.72 ERA in 15 starts this season (+750). He has been battling control issues over his last five outings, issuing 12 free passes, after walking just 18 in his first 10 starts. The veteran left-hander is an impressive 20-12 with a 4.16 ERA in 41 career games (40 starts) against the Blue Jays. He picked up a no-decision against the club five starts back in Toronto, surrendering two earned runs and five hits over 7.2 innings in a 3-2 loss. Pettitte has been flat out dominating under the sun this year, posting a perfect 6-0 record and 1.31 ERA in seven starts.
Both the Blue Jays (18-13, +640) and Yankees (19-10, +240) bring solid daytime records to the table, but the home team’s dominance during July will be the difference. New York has split the first two games of the month, but is 34-20 over the last three years (+310).
