Alex Rodriguez has been out since July 24th, but it appears that he is back today. A-Rod missed time after fracturing his left hand. He will bat third and only DH so fans will not get to see how his hand does in the field. The Yankees could use another bug bat in the lineup after hitting a big skid in recent weeks. After an extremely disappointing series against the Orioles, who are not only two games behind them, they face their nemesis the Tampa Bay Rays. The Rays have also caught up to the Yankees lead in the AL East, only trailing by 3 and a half games. Both teams put up their best starting pitchers first. Expect a pitcher’s duel between CC Sabathia and James Shields tonight. If the Rays do win this first game, this will be a huge blow for New York who desperately need to get it into gear or risk falling out of first and possibly out of the playoff picture. Curtis Granderson will miss his second consecutive game today. Granderson is nursing a hamstring issue that suffered while running to first base during the first inning of Saturday’s game.
However, his replacement, Chris Dickerson, has given the Yankees’ lifeless lineup some spark. In his first at-bat yesterday, he hit a two-run home run and had another RBI later in the game. Basically, he accounted for all of the Yankees’ offense yesterday. He is in the lineup again today.
