GAME 67: Yankees at Marlins

YANKEES (37-28, 2nd place AL East)
Jeter SS
Damon LF
Teixeira 1B
Posada C
Cano 2B
Swisher RF
Cabrera CF
Berroa 3B
Pettitte LHP

Pitching: LHP Andy Pettitte (6-3, 4.52).

MARLINS (37-28, 3rd place, NL East)
Coghlan LF
Helms 3B
Ramirez SS
Cantu 1B
Uggla 2B
Paulino C
Hermida RF
Ross CF
West LHP

Pitching: LHP Sean West (2-1, 3.00).

Cy No-name: I've never heard of the Marlins starter, so it looks like it is going to be a long night.

A-Rod Homecoming: A-Rod will play the first regular season game of his career in Miami, his hometown. (Oh, so that's where the confusion about the World Baseball Classic comes from. I forgot that the border of the United States and the Dominican Republic ran through Miami).

.333 is a good batting average, not winning percentage: The Yankees are 3-6 in their last nine games.

Rain drops are falling on my head: So the Yankees leave here and it stops raining (it's still crappy, just not raining) and, according to PeteAbe, it is raining in South Beach.

Extra cavalry: With the game being in a National League park, there is no DH. So Matsui is available as a pinch hitter.

Vote Tex: Mark Teixiera needs help getting into the All-Star game starting lineup. If you needed any extra motivation, Kevin Pukeilus of the team-that-shall-not-be-named is in first place.

UPDATE 7:15: I just got back home, and the lineup is different. A-Rod will get today and tomorrow off. Jeter looked winded after running hard out of the box. I guess that's what happens when a guy used to playing everyday rides the pine for two days. And with that double, Jeter tied Babe Ruth on the all-time Yankees double list.

UPDATE 7:21: The Yankees are very adept at grounding into double plays to kill big rallies. They only push one run across when it should have been more.

UPDATE 7:23: I just realized that the last time the Yankees were here was Game 5 of the 2003 World Series. That was the game where David Wells only went 1 inning and the Yanks screwed up the rundown play that gave up two runs. I remember my baseball coaches going over rundown for 30 minutes the day after that happened.

UPDATE 7:30: Whoever is in charge of selling the naming rights for the Marlins and Dolphins stadium must really suck at his (or her) job.

UPDATE 7:32: Am I hallucinating? Did Angel Berroa just get a hit? And an RBI? On the same play?

UPDATE 7:33: Am I hallucinating? Did Andy Pettitte just get a hit? And an RBI? On the same play?

UPDATE 7:35: Great, now Pettitte has to run (if you can call it that) the bases.

UPDATE 7:40: Good to see that the Yankees finally tried looking at some film of the opposing pitcher.

UPDATE 8:36: Pettite got through the 4th inning with 68 pitches. He needs to get through 6 and maybe into the 7th.

UPDATE 8:42: Just looked at the box score and every Yankee is "at the party," as Ken Singleton would say. Everyone has a hit, which is weird with Berroa and Pettitte in the lineup.

UPDATE 9:10: Pettitte gets through 6 with 97 pitches, and 3 hits. He's been grimacing a lot today, so my guess is he's done.

UPDATE 9:25: Well, I was dead wrong about Pettitte, as he gets through the 7th.