GAME 53: Yankees vs Rangers

YANKEES (31-21, 1st place AL East)
Jeter SS
Swisher 1B
Damon LF
Rodriguez 3B
Cano 2B
Posada C
Matsui DH
Cabrera RF
Gardner CF
Pitching: LHP Andy Pettitte (5-1, 4.10).

RANGERS (30-21, 1st place AL West)
Kinsler 2B
Young 3B
Jones DH
Cruz RF
Murphy LF
Byrd CF
Davis 1B
Saltalamacchia C
Andrus SS
Pitching: RHP Scott Feldman (4-0, 3.91).

TIME/TV: 7:05 p.m., YES.
Yankees lead season series 3-1.

Hot, Hot, Hot: Yankees have won 16 of their last 20, 5 of their last 6, and two in a row.
Follow the Leader: Derek Jeter enters tonights game with a 16 game hitting streak. He has led off the first inning with a base hit in 10 of his last 12 games and has reached safely in the first inning 12 of his last 17 games.
Andy Dandy: Pettitte is 3-0 in his last 4 starts and the Yankees are 8-2 when he pitches this season.
Rain, Rain, Go Away: Tonights forecast calls for thunderstorms and showers up until 8 p.m. and showers returning again at 10 p.m. So expect a delay to the start of the game or during the game.

UPDATE 6:14 P.M.: Mark Teixeira has been scratched from today's lineup with a bruised right ankle from his takeout slide yesterday. X-Rays were negative and he is expected be be day-to-day.

UPDATE 6:50 p.m: YES pregame show just showed the groundscrew taking the tarp off the field. Looks like they will try and get this game in. Expected gametime is now 7:15 p.m.

UPDATE 7:30: Ugly start for Andy Pettitte Good play by Melky Cabrera to get them out of the inning. It could have been worse. 3-0 Rangers.

UPDATE 7:51P.M.: 4-1 Rangers. Pettitte does not look good at all. You have to wonder if his back is bothering him. With Wang only being able to throw 80 pitches tommorow it is a good thing they have both Aceves and Hughes in the bullpen now.

UPDATE 8:14 P.M.: That could be the turning point of the game right there. After Pettitte allowed the first two batters reach base he strikes out the side. Somewhat of an odd play on the interference with Marlon Byrd and Posada. Hopefully Posada is okay, but because it was unintentional the runners move back and Byrd stays at the plate. Turns out it worked in the Yanks favor and lets see if they can get their offense started.

UPDATE 8:30: Bases loaded, one out, A-Rod up. At least two runs right? Wrong. Soft grounder to third, Young steps on third and easily throws A-Rod out, double play. That was big for the Rangers and an even bigger missed opportunity for the Yankees.

UPDATE 8:46 pm: Well Pettitte escapes a bases loaded jam without giving up a run. If Pettitte could give them 2 more solid innings and keep them in the game the Yankees can still win as long as they get something going with their bats.

UPDATE 8:57: Scratch what I said about 2 more innings from Pettitte. He is over 100 pitches and is only in the 5th. I would assume he is done after this inning.

UPDATE 9:08: Brett Tomko in for Andy Pettitte and he picks up right where Pettitte left off...putting the lead off guy on base.

UPDATE 9:23: Rangers are getting sloppy now. They just committed 2 errors and Damon is one third with one out. And in the blink of an eye the Yankees just stranded him on third. I am not sure what happened but I looked up and saw it was the end of the inning and they failed to bring in Damon. This is not looking good for the Yankees right now.

UPDATE 9:34: Posada hits a home run down the right field line for a home run. A.J. Burnett is shown pointing saying "that's one." Well, he's right. They still have work to do and need two more to tie it up. 4-2 Rangers, CJ Wilson warming up for the Rangers.

UPDATE: Scott Feldman is now out of the game. He pitched a heck of a game and kept the Yanks off-balanced for 6.1 innings. C.J. Wilson in to face Brett Gardner now with one out in the bottom of the 7th.

UPDATE 9:42: Gardner grounds into a fielder's choice and Jeter strikes out. Wilson gets the job done. As for Jeter he is now 0-4 and unless he gets up in the 9th or this goes into extra innings his hitting streak looks like it is over.