Rangers at Yankees: ALCS Game 4 Preview

With the Yankees game 4 lineup changes previously documented in this publication and the discussion surrounding how long its been since Yankee pitcher A.J. Burnett and catcher Francisco Cervelli also already out of the way, the focus now is on the pitching match up itself.

The Yankees are sending Burnett to the mound to face the Texas Rangers tonight not out of luxury, but out of necessity. They can't pitch their entire rotation again on three days rest before possibly pitching in the world series. However, in not pitching their rotation again on three days rest they are stacking the deck in favor of the Rangers making their first world series appearance in franchise history.

For the 2010 season, Burnett compiled a 10-15 record with a 5.26 ERA. In 186 2/3 innings he allowed 204 hits, 25 home runs, 78 walks and hit 19 batters while striking out 145 batters. The Yankees to basically need to score 6 runs to win the game if he pitches to his season averages, considering they couldn't even put together 6 hits last night it might be a tall order.

Against the Rangers Burnett was 1-2 this season with an ERA of 7.00. For their careers, the Rangers are collectively hitting .209 with 9 home runs off of Burnett in their careers. If the Yankees want to win the game they will need the Burnett that showed up in Game 2 of the '09 world series to show up. For the record he pitched 7 innings allowing one run on four hits and striking out nine with only two walks.

The Rangers have the edge in sending Tommy Hunter and his 13-4 record sporting a 3.73 ERA to the mound at first glance. Looking deeper into the statistics only further bolsters this claim. Against the bombers this year, Hunter won his only start going 5 innings allowing 2 runs on 6 hits with 8 strike outs. Scratch the surface a little more and one will find a chink in Hunter's armor. For their careers against him, the Yankees starting line up is hitting a collective .364 with one home run (by Granderson) and 5 RBI. Curtis Granderson practically owns Hunter in their relatively limited action with 4 hits in 6 at bats.

Yankees manager Joe Girardi probably is aware of these numbers and might be more of an evil genius than Yankee fans realize. Being "on rotation," as he put it and responding "nope" when asked if he was reconsidering after last night's loss might be the best decisions he makes the whole ALCS.

"It's tough not to play, period. But it is what it is...I'm ok. Get a win, that's it." Said Jorge Posada before tonight's game in response to Cervelli starting behind the plate.

(stats from ELIAS via ESPN.com)