6:37 PM: Night 1 of 18 of the 2007 season is tonight. The Yankees and starter Andy Pettitte travel to Fenway Park to take on Curt Schilling and the Red Sox on a crisp 47 degree night in the Fens. I’ll be here during the game providing thoughts on the action and commentary on the rivalry showdown throughout. Hopefully I can add to the exciting night and help bring a win to the BoSox.
For matchups, the Yankees with the most success vs. Schilling lifetime is red-hot catcher Jorge Posada (14-34, 1.105 OPS), right fielder Bobby Abreu (.370) and in 22 AB Robinson Cano, who has an OPS over 1.000 vs. G38. The player with the most trouble vs. Schill is the man with 26 RBI through 14 games this year, Mr. Alex Rodriguez (.167/.182/.381 in 42 AB). On the flipside, the Sox player who has dominated Pettitte is Manny Ramirez (25-59, 1.165 OPS), and also Jason Varitek, who needs to break out of a slump, is .361 lifetime in 36 AB. Wily Mo Pena is 6 for 13 lifetime but Coco Crisp gets the start tonight in center.
NESN showed a quick glimpse of Curt Schilling wearing a green cap and Tom Caron was interviewing Bob Cousy. Are they sporting the green unis tonight?
6:39 PM: Even though Papelbon has pitched the ninth the last two days and we all know the workload for the 26-year old will decrease this season, Tito did not rule out an apperance tonight if needed:
“If you see him pitch, he’s available,” Francona said, courtesy of Extra Bases. I would love to see him stroll out of the pen and blow away some Yankee hitters tonight. Gives me shivers just thinking about it.
6:44 PM: Edes on the pregame says they want to pound A-Rod up and in and on his fists tonight early and often. That’s exactly what I wanted to hear. They need to try to make Rodriguez a tad uncomfortable in the box and, please, don’t keep leaving pitches out over the plate like the Indians insisted on doing constantly. Remember when Schill sent A-Rod that chin music in Game 6?
6:50 PM: Quote of the week from setup man Joel Pineiro I found funny:
