STATS LLC
 Starting Pitchers New York: Burnett (8-8, 4.77 ERA) Cleveland: Carmona (10-7, 3.51 ERA) 7:05 PM ET, July 28, 2010 Progressive Field, Cleveland, Ohio |
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Alex Rodriguez is hitless in Cleveland as his pursuit of homer No. 600 has stalled.
After failing to come through on his 35th birthday, Rodriguez tries again to become the seventh player to reach the 600-homer plateau when the New York Yankees and Indians continue their four-game series Wednesday night.
New York (63-36) had little success Tuesday against Josh Tomlin, who made his major league debut a success by pitching Cleveland (42-58) to a 4-1 victory. Rodriguez went 0 for 4, including three at-bats against Tomlin.
“That would have been a fantastic present, but it didn’t work out,” Rodriguez said. “I’ve had some good birthdays. Today wasn’t the greatest.”
The star third baseman was the potential tying run entering his final at-bat in the ninth inning against closer Chris Perez, but he grounded out to end the game.
“I was thinking: ‘Don’t give it up. Don’t let number 600 be a big one like that,’” Perez said.
Rodriguez is 0 for 8 in this series and 7 for 40 with no homers in his last 11 games at Progressive Field. He’s 2 for 8 with one homer against Fausto Carmona (10-7, 3.51 ERA), who will start Wednesday.
“A few times over the last three or four days, I’ve tried to swing a little too hard or maybe get a little pull happy,” said Rodriguez, homerless in five straight games.
Yankees designated hitter Mark Teixeira went 0 for 4 on Tuesday as his streak of reaching base in 42 straight games ended. Teixeira is hitless in seven at-bats in this series.
Catcher Jorge Posada was scratched from New York’s lineup minutes before the game because of a sore left knee. He was replaced by Francisco Cervelli, and manager Joe Girardi said Posada will likely serve as the DH on Wednesday.
Carmona looks to win four straight starts for the first time since he won his final five of 2007. He yielded an unearned run and one hit over five innings in a 3-1 win over Tampa Bay on Friday that was called after 6 1/2 innings due to rain.
Carmona matched a season high with seven strikeouts and had one walk after allowing 10 in his previous two starts. He has a 2.41 ERA over his last three outings.
The right-hander is 1/3 with a 5.56 ERA in six career starts against the Yankees. No hitter has faced Carmona more than Curtis Granderson, who is 14 for 34 against him.
Yankees starter A.J. Burnett (8-8, 4.77) will try to put aside his disastrous past at Progressive Field. Burnett has a 9.00 ERA in losing all four previous starts in Cleveland, although none were with New York.
The veteran right-hander earned his second career win over the Indians on May 30, giving up three runs over eight innings in a 7-3 home victory.
Burnett threw five scoreless innings before being lifted due to a rain delay in Friday’s 7-1 win over Kansas City. He bounced back from a loss to Tampa Bay six days earlier, when he left after giving up four runs in two innings because he cut both palms slamming a set of double doors in frustration.
“I just focused more on what I had to do in my job,” Burnett said. “When I do that, I’m good.”
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