Sabathia Takes The Mound Following Milestone Win

Several factors lead to the Yankees losing to the Royals, 5-1, in the series opener Monday night. An hour long rain delay forced the Yankees to pull starter Phil Hughes from the game after only four innings. And failing to score with the bases loaded with nobody out in the 9th out the icing on the cake for Kansas City.

Now on a two-game losing streak after their six-game winning streak was snapped on Sunday, the Yankees will try to rebound in the second game of this four game set.

Tonight's Lineup, 7:05 EST @ Yankee Stadium:

Gardner 8
Ichiro 9
Cano
Hafner DH
Almonte 7
Overbay 3
Nunez 6
Cruz 5
Stewart 2
Sabathia 1

Pitching Preview:

CC Sabathia passed a major milestone in his last start, notching career win win No. 200 against the Minnesota Twins last Wednesday. He held the Twins to two runs over seven innings while striking out nine while throwing a season-high 121 pitches.

"He's been huge," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "You think about all the wins that he's had, and I'm glad to get that out of the way for him. I don't like milestones. Players are going to think about it, and people are going to ask him about it. For CC, I think it's great. He's been huge for this organization."

CC did not face the Royals when the Yankees went to Kansas City in May, but he is 18-10 with a 3.26 ERA against them in his career.

He'll be going up against a former AL East foe, James Shields, who hasn't been pitching very well lately, with only one win and two no-decisions over his last three starts, while piling up a 6.48 ERA over that span.

Shields isn't coming off a great outing against the Indians, allowing five runs on nine hits while walking two and striking out three over 5 1/3 innings, which included a 34-pitch first inning.

"In the beginning of the game I was just missing my fastball," Shields said. "I kind of settled in, but it was about 80 pitches later. I've got to do a better job early in the game of getting ahead of batters."

Yankee Notes:

* Travis Ishikawa started at first base yesterday, but was replaced by Lyle Overbay in the 7th inning, who went 1-for-1 with a walk and a pinch-hit solo homerun in the 7th. His homerun would be the only run that the Yankees would score on Monday.

* Phil Hughes' night was cut short after throwing only 62 pitches in four innings when a one hour rain delay caused the manager Joe Girardi to put Adam Warren on the mound once play resumed.

"I was throwing in the cages and stuff and they asked me if I was OK, and I said, 'Yeah, I'm ready to go,'" Hughes said. "I just left it in their hands. Joe told me he never wants to mess with anyone's health, so you have to respect that."

* Derek Jeter played in his third rehab game with the Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Berre RailRiders, going 0-for-2 with a walk, as well as reaching base on an E6.

"I feel good, there's been no issues whatsoever," Jeter said. "I had to run a lot [tonight], and everything felt good."

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