Game 134: More than one hit today, please

One step forward, two steps back. That seems to be the way to describe the Yankees' struggling offense this past week. After scoring eight run against the Royals on Monday, they were limited to just two runs the next day in Detroit. They put up eight more runs, all in the 3rd inning against David Price, on Wednesday, then scored just two on Thursday.

And then they came into Toronto, where a five-run 7th inning on Friday night gave them a series opening win over the Blue Jays, only to collect one hit the very next day in a 2-0 loss.

Today, with Jacoby Ellsbury still out due to an ankle sprain, as Joe Girardi called it yesterday, the Yankees will look to take the rubber match of this three-game series in Toronto, as the Bombers wrap up their seven-game road trip this afternoon at 1:07 p.m. ET.

Today's lineup against Toronto:

CF Brett Gardner
DH Derek Jeter
2B Martin Prado
1B Mark Teixeira
RF Carlos Beltran
3B Chase Headley
C Francisco Cervelli
SS Stephen Drew
LF Zelous Wheeler

Pitching matchup preview:

The Yankees' ace of the past month and a half, Brandon McCarthy, take gets the ball for Joe Girardi's club this afternoon, as the right-hander is looking to bounce back from his worst start since joining the Bombers, when five runs on nine hits in 6 1/3 innings in a loss to the Tigers.

"I've thrown well enough to get through outings where I haven't been as sharp, and today, that's the disappointment," McCarthy said after the Detroit outing. "I'd like to be able to fight back. You know days like this you're going to give up some runs, especially against a good team like that. You'd like to be able to limit it a little bit more."

McCarthy, who has posted a 1.90 ERA (11 earned runs in 52 innings) since joining the Yankees, is 1-2 with a 4.28 ERA in seven career appearances (four starts) against the Blue Jays.

He'll be going up against Blue Jays left-hander JA Happ, who is still looking for his first win since July 22, when he beat the Boston Red Sox. Happ has not been pitching well lately, having given up 11 runs in his last 15 1/3 innings.

This'll be Happ's second start this season against the Yankees, who hit him for three runs (two earned) on four hits, including a pair of homeruns, in 5 1/3 innings at Yankee Stadium back in July.

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