Game Preview: New York Yankees vs. Oakland Athletics 7/8

The New York Yankees and the Oakland Athletics face off again tonight in the Bronx and inside Yankee Stadium as these two teams face off head-to-head in the second of their three game set. The Yankees will send CC Sabathia to the mound this evening on three days extra rest and hopefully equipped with some new mechanics and a new game plan that he and Yankees pitching coach Larry Rothschild went over during the week. Opposing Sabathia will be another tough left-handed starting pitcher in Scott Kazmir for the A’s. The game will be played at 7:05 pm ET and can be seen on the YES Network and MLB TV.

• Sabathia is coming into the start after having his last start skipped by Yankees manager Joe Girardi. Sabathia has allowed 10 runs over his last 12 innings in two starts and has been working on sharpening his pitches in the bullpen with pitching coach Larry Rothschild. With Sabathia being skipped he misses starts against the Tampa Bay Rays and the Boston Red Sox while being limited to just one start before the All-Star break.

• Kazmir is coming off a dominating performance last time out over the Seattle Mariners. Kazmir pitched eight shutout inning against Seattle leading the A’s to a 4-0 victory over Nelson Cruz and Robinson Cano. Kazmir pitched at least seven innings in each of his last three starts and has only allowed a total of four runs combined in that span meaning it could be a long night for the Yankees offense tonight.

These two teams face off one more time tomorrow afternoon before the Yankees take their talents to Fenway Park to hopefully pick on the Boston Red Sox. The Red Sox, like the Athletics, have played much better baseball as of late so neither series will be a walk in the park for the Yankees. Here’s to hoping the team is up to the task. Go Yankees!