Kuroda Looks To Rebound Against The White Sox

The New York Yankees need every win they can get at this point, and Monday's 9-1 stomping of the Chicago White Sox was a win that the Yanks are looking to build off of. This late in the season, with where they are in the standings, they can't afford any slip-ups.

The only teams slipping up in Monday was the White Sox, giving up eight runs in the 4th inning that included two errors, and the first six Yankee hitters to reach base before an out was even recorded.

After a two hour rain delay forced the Yanks to take Phil Hughes out of the game after 20 pitches, David Huff took over and shut down the Sox for just one run over 5 2/3 innings, only furthering the discussion of why he should be in the rotation.

And as the playoff race thickens, the next 25 game of baseball are going to be an exciting bunch to watch. MLB announced that the AL Wild Card game will take place on Wednesday, October 2nd, and if the Yankees want to be there, they better buckle up.

Tonight's Lineup vs Chicago:

Gardner CF
Jeter DH
Cano 2B
Soriano LF
Rodriguez 3B
Wells RF
Reynolds 1B
Nunez SS
Stewart C
Kuroda RHP

Pitching Preview:

Prior to Hiroki Kuroda's last three starts, he had been everything the Yankees were looking for out of CC Sabathia and the rest of the game. But lately, he's been nothing of what he once was, and maybe turning the page to September might be a good thing, since he was 1-4 in the month of August.

"It feels like, against the hitters, they're getting good timing off me," Kuroda said after his last outing against the Toronto Blue Jays, in which he was shelled for seven runs in five inning, with five of those runs coming in the 1st inning. "And it feels like that's happening quite a lot."

Kuroda will be facing off against the White Sox Cy Young contender, left-hander Chris Sale. The two are facing each other for the second time this season, after Sale got the best of Kuroda in the first meeting back in early August.

Sale rebounded from an awful outing two starts ago, striking out 12 against the Houston Astros in his last start -- the fourth outing of 12 or more strikeouts in 2013, setting a single-season franchise record.

"My arm feels loose, my body feels good," Sale said. "Something [White Sox pitching coach Don Cooper] and I have talked about is last year I kind of limped across the finish line. This one, he's like, 'Let's sprint across at the end of the year.' It's something I'm working toward and trying to do."

In five career games (two starts) against the Yankees Sale is 2-0 with a 0.49 ERA, including the August 6th matchup in which he held them to one unearned run over 7 1/3 innings.

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