So far, the Detroit Tigers have only thrown righties at the New York Yankees, so it's hardly surprising that, for Tuesday's Game 4, Joe Girardi is starting the same lineup as usual against Rick Porcello:
Joe Girardi Keeps Same Starting Lineup In ALDS Game 4
Derek Jeter, SS
Curtis Granderson, CF
Robinson Cano, 2B
Alex Rodriguez, 3B
Mark Teixeira, 1B
Nick Swisher, RF
Jorge Posada, DH
Russell Martin, C
Brett Gardner, LF
One wouldn’t expect anything different. Even though the Yankees have hit just .224 so far in this series, that’s based on a sample of 98 at bats, and the Yankees can hit. The Yankees spent the entire regular season hitting. This is no time for Joe Girardi to mess around and overreact by making changes.
Of course, the lineup above leaves out the most important part:
A.J. Burnett, SP
Yikes. The Yankees never intended to have Burnett start in this round, but the rain on Friday left them little choice once the series went four, so now it’s Burnett who’ll take the mound with the Yankees’ collective back against the wall. I wouldn’t expect Girardi to have much patience; if Burnett’s good, he’ll pitch, but if he’s bad, Girardi likely won’t hesitate to call on some relief.
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