Rain on Monday postponed the New York Yankees' first season without manager Joe Torre since 1995 and the final Opening Day at Yankee Stadium.
However, the weather is expected to cooperate on Tuesday night in the Bronx, when the Yankees and Blue Jays will participate in the 84th all-time opener at Yankee Stadium.
The originally scheduled starting pitchers both will take the hill Tuesday, as New York righthander Chien-Ming Wang will face Toronto ace Roy Halladay, who is making his sixth consecutive Opening Day start, tying him with Houston's Roy Oswalt for the lead among active players.
Halladay, who missed time because of an appendectomy last year, was 16-7 last season with a 3.71 ERA in 31 starts. In 26 games, 24 of which have been starts, against the Yankees, Halladay is 10-4 with a 2.99 ERA. He is 4-0 with a 1.77 ERA in his last eight starts against New York, which hasn't beaten him since Sept. 21, 2004.
Despite Halladay's past success against New York, Toronto is a +145 money line underdog (over/under: 9 runs) at WagerWeb.com for tonight's game.
The Blue Jays have high expectations this season despite finishing below .500 on the road each of the past four years and not reaching the playoffs since 1993.
Thirteen Blue Jays, however, combined to miss 951 games last season, giving the club virtually no chance to catch the Red Sox and the Yankees.
"We feel like we had a good club the last two years and, with the injury factor, obviously we couldn't do certain things we wanted to do," general manager J.P. Ricciardi said.It's already been a difficult spring for the Blue Jays in terms of injuries. Reliever Casey Janssen was lost for the season due to a torn labrum, new third baseman Scott Rolen is out for at least a month with a broken finger, and closer B.J. Ryan is struggling to recover from Tommy John surgery on his left elbow last April.
Monday's rain did give outfielder Matt Stairs more time to rest an ailing left hip that had club officials contemplating putting the 40-year-old on the disabled list to start the season. Stairs will not start Tuesday, but will be available to serve as a pinch-hitter.
If spring stats are any indication, look for a quick start to the season by Blue Jays 2B Aaron Hill, who finished the spring with a .447 batting average and home runs in each of his last two games.
The Yankees, meanwhile also start their ace in Wang, who was 19-7 last season with a 3.70 ERA. Wang, though, was horrendous in the playoffs, as he gave up 12 runs and 14 hits in 5 2/3 innings in losing both of his starts to the Indians. Wang is 3-2 lifetime against the Jays with a 4.20 ERA in seven starts, including 0-2 with a 6.35 ERA in three starts last year.
New York's second baseman also was stellar during Grapefruit League play as Robinson Cano finished second among Grapefruit hitters this spring with a .446 batting average and his 19 RBIs, tying him for second among all major leaguers. Meanwhile, catcher Jorge Posada struggled, hitting just .227.
For new Yankees manager Joe Girardi, managing the final Yankees team at the Stadium is a big thrill.
"I don't think you ever know how you're going to react," he said about the final Opening Day. "I think I reacted a lot different when I walked out for the first time at Yankee Stadium than I thought I would. I think I was like, 'Wow, this is really awesome.' As a Midwestern boy, not growing up in that area, you didn't really understand the greatness of it until you walk in there."
Betting trends: Over is 7-1-1 in Toronto's last 9 games on grass. ... Over is 7-3 in Jays' last 10 overall. ... Over is 8-2-1 in Yankees' last 11 home games. ... NY is 41-17 in its last 58 home games. ... NYY is 15-7 in its last 22 games on grass.
The last word: The Yankees have won 10 straight and 15 of their last 16 home openers, won 10 of their 18 matchups with the Jays last season, and are 32-22 against them since the start of the 2005 campaign. Still, I'll take Halladay over Wang any day.
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