The A's and Smokin' Joe Blanton with an 0-2 record and a 2.67 ERA take on Mike Mussina with a 2-2 record and a 4.50 ERA.
The A's over the last three seasons have been surprisingly good against Mussina. They have pinned a 1-2 record on him and he has a 5.12 ERA against the green and gold. The A's are also batting .291 against Mussina. But that also goes back to the Tejada days.
Here is the A's lineup today:
Kotsay
Kendall
Chavez
Hatteberg
Kielty
Durazo
Ellis
Byrnes
Scutaro
I'd still like to see Ginter in there a little more right now. I like Ginter and Scutaro out there. But that might be because Ellis has faced Mussina before and has a .333 average including a double.
The Yankees counter with this lineup against Smokin' Joe.
Jeter
Womack
Sheffield
Matsui
Rodriguez
Martinez
Posada
Giambi
Cano
How far has Giambi fallen when he's hitting eighth in the lineup? It wasn't that long ago this guy was the heart of the Oakland lineup. Has any team ever gotten so little out of spending so much money? (course after saying this, he's going to hit three home runs today and kill the A's)
Regardless, it would be nice to see Smokin' Joe pick up his first win in Yankee Stadium and the A's take the first two games with Rich Harden going tomorrow.
LET'S GO A'S!!!
