Gotta beat the teams you're supposed to beat.
If the Yankees want to stay alive in the playoff hunt, they are going to have to beat teams like the Astros. They failed to do that last night, thanks to a huge Chris Carter home run. Can they bounce back tonight with Michael Pineda on the mound? The schedule ahead is not getting any easier, so these games are pretty much must-win. It may already be too late.
#NYY lineup. Tune in to YES at 6:00pm! Gardner LF Jeter DH Ellsbury CF Teixeira 1B McCann C Headley 3B Drew SS Prado 2B Ichiro RF Pineda P
— YES Network (@YESNetwork) August 20, 2014Derek Jeter is in the lineup as the DH instead of at shortstop in favor of Stephen Drew. That allows Martin Prado to move from the outfield to second base with Ichiro Suzuki getting the start in right field. Getting Jeter out of the field seems like a pretty good idea, but wait, there's more:
Girardi says Beltran felt something in elbow when swinging last night, carried over to today, so he was scratched.
— Daniel Barbarisi (@DanBarbarisi) August 20, 2014Promising.
Beltran out with right elbow soreness, same elbow that's bothered him. Jeter moves to DH today.
— Sweeny Murti (@YankeesWFAN) August 20, 2014This is the same elbow that caused Beltran to miss a chunk of time earlier this season, and will almost certainly result in offseason surgery. Joe Girardi hopes that it will only be a day or two before Carlos Beltran is able to return to the lineup, but that seems very optimistic at this point, particularly with him heading off to a doctor. There was always the risk that the surgery wouldn't be able to wait until the offseason and this may just be the final straw in that. Two more years. Two. more. years.
Editor's Note: SB Nation's partner FanDuel is hosting a one-day $18,000 Fantasy Baseball league for tonight's MLB games. It's $2 to join and first prize is $2,000. Jump in now. Here's the FanDuel link.