Yankees Begin Crucial Blue Jays Series Tonight: A Preview

The moment everyone has been waiting for has arrived. The first of two series against the Toronto Blue Jays begins tonight, with the start of a four game set at Yankee Stadium.

The Yankees have been nipping at the wings of the division-leading Jays for weeks now, but have been unable to break those wings. They are 1.5 games behind Toronto (and one game out in the loss column).  In order to gain ground they will need to take three of the four games in the series.

Pitching Matchups

Game 1: Luis Severino (3-2, 2.04) vs David Price (14-5, 2.43)

Game 2: Ivan Nova (6-7, 4.50) vs Marco Estrada (12-8, 3.18)

Game 3: Michael Pineda (10-8, 4.15) vs Marcus Stroman (0-0)

Game 4: Masahiro Tanaka (11-6, 3.57) vs R.A. Dickey (10-10, 4.01)

The Lineup

First things first, there are a number of Yankees who have good numbers against David Price:

Carlos Beltran, .263

Jacoby Ellsbury, .346

Didi Gregorius, .286 (7 AB)

Chase Headley, .500

Brian McCann .435

Yankees Universe is hoping that the David Price they know and love shows up tonight, not the ace that has shown up for the Blue Jays since the trade deadline. As for numbers against the other pitchers in the series, let's not worry about those right now: Take care of business today. Worry about tomorrow, tomorrow.

The Bullpen

It's also important to take a look at the Yankee relievers for this series. Dellin Betances and Andrew Miller, setup man and closer respectively, have had two days of rest. No worries there. Justin Wilson, who has emerged as the seventh inning guy, should also be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.  Hopefully, though, the Yankees will not need a long-relief guy, because it will probably mean Chris Capuano, and not Adam Warren, who has been used a lot lately.

So the showdown begins tonight. Should be a great series. Go Yankees.