Yankees and Angels Battle in Rubber Match

The New York Yankees take on the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim Thursday night in what will be the rubber match of a three game series. New York hammered out 13 hits on Tuesday and held on to beat the Angels 7-5 despite giving up a grand slam to Bobby Abreu in the ninth inning. Anaheim answered with a 5-3 win Wednesday behind a solid pitching performance from newly acquired Joel Piniero. Piniero threw 107 pitches in 7 innings allowing just 5 hits and 1 earned run. His 7 strikeouts was his highest total this season.

Los Angeles has had a horrible start considering they were picked to win the American League West this year by many of the experts. A tough early schedule against Minnesota and a much improved Oakland squad, had put the Angels in a hole out of the gates. It might just be a coincidence that they have started so poorly, but manager Mike Scioscia will not allow this team to fall behind too far. The addition of Hideki Matsui to the line-up makes this team lethal from top to bottom. Torii Hunter is the clubhouse leader, and shows it on the field with a .323 average and 5 RBI’s in his first 7 games. Surprisingly, catcher Jeff Mathis leads the team with a .333 batting average out of the gate.

The Bombers have started the season much better than years past winning 2 out of 3 from their toughest competitors in the East. After losing the first game of the season, the Yankees battled back to take the last 2 from Boston, and followed that up by winning 2 out of 3 against the Tampa Bay Rays. New York is currently a half game back of Toronto and Tampa Bay in the American League East, but should have enough fire-power to carry them to another league title.

Jorge Posada is showing that he still has plenty left in his bat as he leads the Yanks with a .400 batting average, and an incredible 1.316 OPS through the first 8 games. Robinson Cano is proving that he is worthy of an All-Star selection as he has 2 home runs and 6 RBI’s in the first week of the season. There is still a long way to go, but the Yankees have been projected as the odds on favorites to win the World Series yet again,

Thursday’s match-up should be full of fireworks as the Angel/ Yankee rivalry has proven to be filled with offense.

Related posts:

1. Monday Night MLB Interleague Match-Up: Brewers and Angels
2. Nationals host Angels in Interleague Match-Up
3. Bonderman/ Kazmir Match-up in Battle of Over-rated Pitchers
4. A.L. East Division Title Battle: Yankees vs. Rays
5. Battle of Aces: Yankees vs. Red Sox Saturday

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