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Tonight the Yanks will face a difficult obstacle to overcome - Roy Halladay and the 1st place Toronto Blue Jays. Ironically, A.J. Burnett will be the opposing starting pitcher, so he’s gonna really have to be on his game this evening. We have beaten Halladay before, but if you let him get comfortable, he’ll completely shut you down. You have to lay off his breaking balls and sinkers out of the zone, and make the guy throw strikes. If we can do that, along with Burnett zoning in, we could come out with a victory. Derek Jeter has always said that Halladay is the toughest pitcher he’s faced, so that says it all - but will he be any match for the home run-crazy Johnny Damon?!

What this team really needs is consistency - we need to roll off 5-6 straight and start to play with confidence, because this division is now too tough to be falling behind early. That type of run COULD start tonight. It’s the kind of win that ignite the team and we could start to really look like the Yankees. This game aside however, we’re gonna have to shake up some of the pieces soon - I think if Matsui can stay healthy and keep hitting, we should try to trade him to an American League team that could use a DH. Following this, we should make Damon the full-time DH (since he can field anymore) and bring in a defensive outfielder that can hit enough to play everyday. The problem with playing Swisher everyday is that it diminshes your depth on the bench, so that’s  why we should go after a good glove that’s young and can really run down fly-balls. Regarding centerfield, I’m not sure what to make of the situation yet - Gardner really wasn’t given enough of a chance to prove himself in the majors, Melky’s had a hot bat so he’s playing everyday now, and Austin Jackson is tearing it up in AAA (hitting .365 with 38 hits, 17 runs scored, 5 doubles, 2 triples, 13 runs batted in, 11 walks, and 7 stolen bases). Time will tell if the Yanks make a play for a centerfielder, or at least a “stop-gap” guy until Jackson comes up full-time. The other thing that may certainly get shaken up is the bullpen, since it hasn’t quite been working as a unit yet - look for us to make a play at someone like Scott Linebrink to improve things a bit.

I’d like to also announce that it’s my birthday today, so that makes tonight’s game even more important! Let’s pull out a birthday win for me boys!

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