Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano leads the Majors in with a .371 batting average.
After defeating Roy Holliday and his Philadelphia mates on Monday in the opener of this three-game set, the New York Yankees were officially considered on a roll. However, the Phillies came back and captured Tuesday's middle game, 6-3.
The loss snapped New York's eight-game home winning streak, which tied the longest in the history of the new Yankee Stadium. The club is now 23-8 in its first 31 home encounters this season.
Prior to Tuesday's middle game, Joe Girardi's troops were a season-high 17 games above .500. The 40-23 record is New York's best start since going 42-21 during the 2004 campaign.
The Yankees have a league-leading plus-105 run differential, outscoring the opposition 366-261. New York, with the best all-time record in interleague play at 138-98, is 5-3 against the NL this season.
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The Yankees are getting some fine contributions from middle infielders Derek Jeter and Robinson Cano. Jeter leads the Majors with 39 RBI from the leadoff position in the batting order. His 80 hits from the No. 1 spot are second only to Ichiro's 90. Jeter is 30-for-86 (.349) with 10 multi-hit games over the last 20 contests.
Cano leads the Majors in batting average (.371), hits (91) and total basis (152). He also leads all Major League second basemen with 47 RBI and is tied for second with 13 round trippers.
Andy Pettitte will toe the rubber in Thursday's finale. The veteran southpaw is a sparkling 8-1 with a nifty 2.46 ERA. The Yankees are 10-2 in Pettitte's 12 starts this season, with the ‘under' going 7-5.
Pettitte, who celebrated his 38th birthday on June 15, is off Friday's 4-3 win against Houston as a huge 240 home favorite. The combined seven runs ducked ‘under' the 8 ½-run closing total.
The Louisiana native allowed three runs (two earned) on four hits in 7 1/3 innings spanning 98 pitches. He walked one and fanned four. It was the fourth straight game where Pettitte had lasted at least seven innings, and also marked his fourth straight quality start.
Philadelphia are now one games above .500 (32-31), including 17-17 on the road. The club is a dismal 2-7 in its last nine road endeavors.
The Phillies are also 3-5 in their first eight games against AL competition this season, which lowers their record to 9-20 in their last 29 interleague outings.
Charlie Manuel's troops have a plus-14 run differential, outscoring the opposition 275-261. They are 8-7 in one-run games and just 5-10 against left-handed starting hurlers.
Kyle Kendrick (3-2, 4.80 ERA) will take the ball for the Phillies after pitching two innings of shutout relief against the Red Sox last Friday. The 25-year-old right-hander made his last start on June 8 against Florida, and it wasn't pretty.
The Marlins tagged Kendrick for six runs on six hits (two homers) in just five innings. Kendrick walked one and fanned four during his 79-pitch effort.
The Phillies are 6-6 in Kendrick's first 12 starts this season, with the ‘over/under' also going 6-6. The ‘under' is 34-27-1 in Philadelphia's first 62 overall games.
Tom Hallion is scheduled to call ball and strikes in Thursday's finale. There has been an average of 8.6 runs per game in Hallion's first 11 games behind home plate this season, helping the ‘under' go 6-5.
Most offshore sports books monitored by the Don Best odds product opened the Yankees as hefty 200 home favorites for Thursday's finale, with the 'total' set at 10 'under' (minus 120).