Game 104: Starting a new streak

The Toronto Blue Jays finally ended their miserable run at Yankee Stadium on Saturday, defeating the Yankees in the Bronx for the first time since August, 2012, ending the Yankees' 17-game home winning streak over the Jays.

So now the Yankees -- 7-2 since the All-Star break -- will be looking to start a new streak against the Jays, who now have some more confidence that they can, in fact, beat the Yankees at Yankee Stadium.

This is the final game of the 10-game homestand to open up the second half of the season. After today, the Yankees will hit the road and make a stop on Texas on Monday to meet the Rangers for three games down in Arlington, then head back north for a three-game set at Fenway Park.

Today's lineup against Toronto:

LF Brett Gardner
SS Derek Jeter
CF Jacoby Ellsbury
DH Carlos Beltran
1B Brian McCann
3B Chase Headley
C Francisco Cervelli
RF Zelous Wheeler
2B Brendan Ryan

Pitching matchup preview:

Shane Greene gets the ball for the Yankees today in the finale of this three-game series. Greene enters the day 2-1 with 2.79 ERA through his first three big league starts.

The worst of those three outings was the most recent one, this past week against the Rangers. Greene exited with two outs in the 6th, and finished by giving up four runs on five hits in what would be his first loss of the season that day.

Greene, the rookie, will be going up against the veteran left-hander JA Happ, who's coming off one of his best outings of the year after throwing six scoreless innings in victory against the Red Sox.

"That might have been, in my opinion, his best outing of the year," said Blue jays manager John Gibbons told reporters. "He had a good curveball going that he established, he used quite a bit. He primarily relies on his fastball, because he has a good one, but he had a good curveball that he was throwing over the plate and a good changeup. That was big, that was a big part of the reason he held them in check."

Yankee Notes:

* The Yankees had four scouts on hand to watch Cuban outfielder Rusney Castillo workout at the University of Miami on Saturday, according to the NY Post.

With almost the entire league there to watch him, some believe that the outfielder could land a contract in the range of what Yasiel Puig got from the Los Angeles Dodgers a couple years ago -- Puig signed for $42 million.

The 27-year-old is a very strong, fast player that could easily help the Yankees now and in the future, possibly filling up right field next to Ellsbury and Gardner. His power, along side the speed of Ellsbury and Gardner, that could be one of the most dangerous outfields in all of the Majors.

* It doesn't sound like Mark Teixeira will need to go on the DL. Joe Girardi told reporters that they're shooting for a Tuesday/Wednesday return for the switch-hitting first baseman.

* Carlos Beltran hasn't been missing any time lately, expect for the fact that he hasn't played in the outfield since May. Girardi also believes that Carlos Beltran isn't too far off from returning to the outfield, suggesting that he could be just a few weeks away.

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