Cleveland @ New York preview
Yankee Stadium
Last Meeting ( May 29, 2010 ) Cleveland 13, NY Yankees 11
Justin Masterson could be pitching for his job today, and he’ll be doing it inside a hitter’s paradise against perhaps baseball’s best lineup.
As if that wasn’t bad enough, the New York Yankees will be hopping mad following their collapse to the Indians on Saturday.
In short, Masterson has a big day ahead of him.
The Indians rallied from a six-run deficit against the Yankees’ bullpen for a stunning 13-11 win on Saturday, which was briefly overshadowed by David Huff’s scary moment. Huff was hit in the head by an Alex Rodriguez line drive that caromed into right field for a double.
Huff was taken off the field on a stretcher and transported to a local hospital, where CT scans were negative and he was eventually released in time to return to Yankee Stadium for the end of the game.
Rodriguez was so shaken that he left the stadium immediately and went looking for the hospital, unaware that Huff was already en route back to the stadium.
Huff has a knot above his left ear, according to his teammates, but otherwise seems fine.
Masterson’s season, however, is not. He is 0-10 with a 6.53 ERA in his last 14 road starts and has just one victory since Cleveland acquired him on July 31, 2009.
Manager Manny Acta’s patience is growing thin with Masterson, and his time as a starter appears to be nearing an end. Acta won’t commit to Masterson beyond the next start, and if things don’t go well today, he could be out of the rotation.
Left-handed batters are hitting .386 off Masterson this season, something the Yankees assuredly know very well. New York can piece together a heavy lefty lineup, including the red-hot Robinson Cano.
Cano is batting .451 during his current 12-game hitting streak with 14 RBIs. Half of those have come in the first two games of this series.
Yankees starter A.J. Burnett has endured his own struggles, but they are nothing compared to Masterson. Burnett pitched five scoreless innings against Minnesota on Tuesday in his most recent start before rain suspended the game after five innings.
It was a huge improvement over Burnett’s previous three starts, when he allowed a combined 16 runs. He will face one of the worst offenses in the American League.
The 13 runs the Indians scored on Saturday made them the final team in baseball this season to score double figures in runs in one game.