The Yankees will try to get a win again as they face the Toronto Blue Jays, who are on the verge of mathematically being eliminated from the playoffs. Phil Hughes will try to somehow not get blown up yet again and hopefully the lineup will do better against J.A. Happ than they did against R.A. Dickey.
Break From Toronto Lineup: Granderson 8, Rodriguez DH, Cano 4, Soriano 7, Wells 9, Reynolds 3, Nunez 5, Murphy 2, Ryan 6, Hughes 1.
— Andy McCullough (@McCulloughSL) September 18, 2013
The Yankees lineup has a lot of similarities to the one they sent out last night, but there's still a few twists and turns. Curtis Granderson is still in center field and still leading off, Alex Rodriguez is still DHing, and Robinson Cano and Alfonso Soriano still make up the heart in the lineup. From there, Vernon Wells gets the start over Ichiro Suzuki against the left-handed Happ. Mark Reynolds will play first base instead of Lyle Overbay, meaning Eduardo Nunez will start at third base. From there J.R. Murphy will get another chance at starting while Austin Romine continues to recover from a concussion, and Brendan Ryan will bat last.
Murphy is getting a rare shot to prove himself, both with the bat and the glove. He looked decent behind the plate in his last start, and he made a great tag at the plate last night, but he needs to show he can hit major league hitting too. If he struggles too much he's going to get benched in favor of Chris Stewart because he's a "known quantity."
In injury news, Boone Loganthrew a bullpen and felt good. He's attempting to come back from a bone spur in his pitching elbow that he will need to have removed in the offseason. If he feels good the day after he pitches he will be cleared to return to the team and will be available on Friday.