On Deck (Game 7): Bombers at Twinkies

Andy Pettitte (0–0, 3.60 ERA) vs. Boof Bonser (0–0, 3.00 ERA)

Andy Pettitte takes the hill tonight, his mission: Shut down the M&M brothers so the Yanks’ bats can take care of Boof. OK, if you can say “Boof Bonser” without chuckling, you’re a better man than I.  The second game of the series in the dome features a much better SP matchup, Bonser is an up-and-comer, Pettitte is trying to regain his form from the glory days. As opposed to Ponson vs. Pavano, which was reminiscent of an over-30 league matchup in Parsippanny, N.J.

In a nutshell: Pettitte vs. the Twins lineup should be advantage Yanks. Mauer and Morneau are easily the two best hitters on Minny, both lefties. The Twins like to run, Pettitte’s pick-off move neutralizes the running game. Conversely, the Yanks lineup is killer against righties, even without Matsui.

Keys to the game: The bullpen got a well-deserved rest last night. Everyone but Farnsworth should be available to pitch tonight (Joe says he won’t use Farnsworth on back-to-back nights). Mo needs some work, ironically. Let’s hope he can get himself in his his first save situation of the year tonight.

Trends:

• The Yanks 7–9 hitters were a combined 0–13 last night with 11 men left on base. They need some production from the bottom of the lineup. Melky needs to pick it up especially.
• 1–4 in the Yanks order (Damon, Jeter, Abreu, A-Rod) are currently hitting .373 with 28 runs 6 HRs and 19 RBI.

Twins blogs: AaronGleeman.com, Twins Geek, Nick & Nick’s Twins Blog