Gamenight: Phillies (22-17) At Yankees (24-17)
Brett Myers (3-2, 4.50 ERA) vs. AJ Burnett (2-1, 5.02 ERA)
Time: 7:05 p.m. at Yankee Stadium, Bronx, NY
Weather: Isolated storms, 77
TV: MyPhl 17
Twitter: Phillies Nation
Interleague play opens with a bang — the Phillies will be the first National League franchise to play at Yankee Stadium, V2.
It’s a highly anticipated series, for sure, with both the Phils and Yanks playing big baseball as of late (while the opposite series, Mets vs. Red Sox, occurs at Fenway). Both teams feature high-octane offenses (The Yankees are first in baseball in runs per game. The Phillies are second.) with a slew of lefty/switch bashers (Mark Teixiera, Johnny Damon, Robinson Cano, Hideki Matsui in New York; Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Raul Ibanez, Jimmy Rollins in Philly). And both teams have had pitching troubles, but the matchups are intriguing and very paralleled. Factor in the short porch in right field and the propensity for Yankee Stadium to give up plenty of runs, and we might have a heck of a weekend here.
In 16 career appearances, AJ Burnett has a 4.57 ERA against the Phils, but that’s against a lot of different teams. Chase Utley has nice numbers (.319 AVG, HR) against Burnett, as does Greg Dobbs (.667 AVG). That doesn’t mean Burnett can’t beat lefties — in fact, they’re hitting just .245 against him this season. Burnett seems to work the zone more against them, walking 17 while striking out 27, much greater than his splits against righties.
This will be Myers’ first appearance in any Yankee Stadium. He has barely faced these Yankees, but his home run totals (an NL-leading 12) might make for a very long night. Hopefully not.
Go Phillies!
