Pair Of Lefties, Pettitte and Happ, Face-Off In Game Two

Well, the New York Yankees lost to the Toronto Blue Jays 5-2 on Monday -- a team that had lost seven of their last eight, as well as 12 of the first 13 games against the Yanks this season.

Even the third coming of Derek Jeter wasn't enough to put runs on the board, pitch better than Phil Hughes did and has all season, and catch a seemingly routine fly ball that Ichiro managed to drop in right field, leading to a three-run 5th inning by the Jays.

On the bright side for the Yankees: Alex Rodriguez homered for the third time this season since his debut on August 5th, going the other way to take R.A. Dickey over the right field wall to give the Yankees a 3-2 lead.

And speaking of Jeter, the Yankees' Captain rejoined the team off the disabled list for the third time, but didn't factor much in the loss, going 0-for-3 with a walk. While that stats do matter, for now, the Yankees only care that Jeter stays healthy.

"It's nice. Hopefully, we can keep him this time," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "We haven't been so fortunate the last two times. He's played some rehab games, he's felt well. ... It's nice to have him back in the lineup."

Tonight's Lineup vs Toronto:

Gardner CF
Jeter SS
Cano 2B
Soriano LF
Rodriguez 3B
Granderson RF
Wells DH
Reynolds 1B
Stewart C
Pettitte LHP

Pitching Preview:

Andy Pettitte will take the mound Tuesday night for the Yankees, and he won't have to do much to improve Hughes' start Monday night, who gave up five runs (three earned) on seven hits, while also walking three in 4 2/3 innings.

The last time Pettitte took the mound, he was facing these very same Blue Jays last Thursday, limiting them to just one runs over six innings, following a three-hour rain delay. The one-run effort marked the third straight outing for Pettitte in which he allowed one run or fewer.

"The job that Andy did was important. We needed it," Girardi said. "We needed to get at least six innings out of him, and he was able to do that. He pitched very well."

Pettitte will be opposed by another left-hander, J.A. Happ. Happ will be making his third start against the Yankees and his second in a row on Tuesday, following last weeks series in the Bronx.

In Thursday's loss to the Yankees, Happ struggled, giving up four runs, while also walking five in 5 1/3 innings of work. Happ started the game pitching well, but as the game went on, the Yanks started getting to him, eventually chasing him from the game.

"I've been feeling good since coming back [after being struck in the head with a liner], but [today] I felt like I was executing pitches, then I started missing a little bit," Happ said after that start. "I would have liked to have stayed in there, but that's obviously not my call, either."

Also, while Jeter hasn't done much for the Yankees in the six games he's play this season, he's 4-for-8 with two homeruns in his career against Happ.

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