Yankees vs. Blue Jays - 8/19

The Yankees already had their work cut out for them before they arrived in Toronto. Now they have to face Roy Halladay and A.J. Burnett as part of a three game series. Things get underway tonight at the Rogers Centre with Darrell Rasner squaring off against Burnett.

Rasner, for the moment, is back in the rotation due to the rotator cuff tendinitis that befell Dan Giese. Rasner pitched well in his last start, but like most of his pitching teammates, he lost, 4-2, due to a lack of run support.

Burnett has put together a 15-9 mark, despite a 4.67 ERA. However, he has excelled against the Yankees in his career, going 5-2, 2.85 in eight starts. He defeated the Yankees, 4-1 on, July 13, and struck out eight in 8.1 innings pitched.

Andy Pettitte faces rookie David Purcey on Wednesday, and the series concludes on Thursday with Sidney Ponson going against Halladay.

The Blue Jays have won 9 of 13, including 5 of their last 6 contests. They swept the Red Sox over the weekend, winning two games with a third rained out. They trail the third place Yankees by just two games.

The Blue Jays have gotten good pitching all season, but have begun to hit better as well. Vernon Wells missed a month, but recently returned and has driven in nine runs in his last seven games. Alex Rios leads the team in just about every offensive category - average, RBI, runs scored, and stolen bases. The Jays don't hit home runs, Matt Stairs leads the team with just 11.

Second year player Adam Lind is beginning to show the promise expected of him. After hitting just .238-11-46 in 290 at-bats last season, Lind is at .308-8-34 in 186 at-bats. He's also struck out only 28 times.

Strange things happen in Toronto, maybe it's the 7:07 start time. Derek Jeter suffered that devastating shoulder injury back in 2003, and last year there was the infamous Alex Rodriguez "HA" incident. And of course there was the Dave Winfield seagull brouhaha back at old Exhibition Stadium in 1983.

UPDATE 3:33 PM

As expected, Justin Christian was optioned to Scranton to make room for Hideki Matsui's return. Chad Jennings also reports that Jason Lane has been released and will most likely sign a minor league deal with the Red Sox.