The Yankees have won eight of their last 10, and are looking for their eighth sweep of the season on Wednesday against Toronto. Eights are clearly wild today (on 7/18, no less), so here are eight random facts about the Yankees and/or today’s game you may find interesting:
-With Omar Vizquel in the lineup for Toronto, that means that the top three active hits leaders are all playing in the same game. Between them, Derek Jeter (3,205), Alex Rodriguez (2,863) and Vizquel (2,856) have nearly 9,000 total hits.
-If A-Rod records three hits today, he will tie Harold Baines for 41st on the all-time list. Next up after that? Babe Ruth and his 2,873 knocks.
-Should Russell Martin go deep today, he would become the eighth Yankee to reach 10 home runs this season, leaving Derek Jeter (7) and Eric Chavez (8) as the only Bombers with 100 or more plate appearances to still be in single digits.
-Andruw Jones (who is in the lineup in left field against the lefty Ricky Romero) and Raul Ibanez – who were supposed to be the “DH platoon” for the most part this season – are hitting a combined .241 with 24 homers, 65 RBI, and an OPS in the .800 range. Not bad for a $3.1 million total investment.
-Continuing with Jones and Ibanez: As our own Jack Curry Tweeted, Yankees left fielders are hitting .346 with 10 HR and 23 RBI in the last 22 games. Those are best numbers at that spot for any MLB team.
-Completing the trilogy, the Yankees lead the Majors with 22 homers and 75 RBI from the No. 7 spot in the lineup, which is where Jones and/or Ibanez often hit. Today’s No. 7 hitter, for reference, is shortstop Jayson Nix.
-A win today would be Hiroki Kuroda’s ninth. He has reached that total in three of his four previous seasons, but the earliest he’s ever gotten there is August 19.
-Robinson Cano is riding a 20-game hitting streak (the longest active streak in MLB), during which he’s hitting .405. If he gets a hit today and moves to 21, that will make it the Yankees’ longest streak since Derek Jeter hit in 25 straight in 2006 – a mark that happens to be the sixth-longest streak in franchise history.
