Game Threat: Jays (27-26) vs. Yankees (24-26)

Image via the great @JAHappster.

The New York Yankees will face J.A. Happ for the third time this season tonight. They’ll be looking for their third run off him, too.

J.A. Happ!

He’s been good!

Happ has rebounded from a disaster against the Rays back on the 16th with a couple of tasty starts allowing just six hits and six walks over 14.1 innings, striking out ten. Happ has gone six or deeper in nine of his ten starts this year, and made it through seven innings six times. Even with that blip versus Tampa he’s got a 3.20 ERA.

FIP is less friendly because he’s lacked strikeouts so far, though he seems to be moving closer towards his career norms on that front, after struggling a bit to miss bats in particular in a one-strikeout, seven inning win over Oakland in late April.

So… nothing to see here but a guy proving a whole lot of people wrong. Love it. Luuuuuurve it. Luff it.

Do I even need to mention that it’s Darwin Barney in a short tonight, instead of Ryan Goins? Isn’t that Barney’s job at this point? Anyway, it’s happening. Bautista continues to lead off — so my sidebar poll here isn’t even that stale!

Oh, and no Michael Saunders tonight, with the white hot Ezequiel Carrera (.382/.433/.491 — holy shit!) getting the start in left field instead.

Rob Refsnyder is battng second for the Yankees, and Starlin Castro fifth. A fan of a team that has been giving cleanup at-bats to the likes of Saunders and Justin Smoak maybe shouldn’t make fun of a thing like that, and yet here we are…

TV: Sportsnet

Next Game: Tomorrow vs. Yankees, 7:07 PM ET

Jose Bautista(R) RF

Josh Donaldson(R) 3B

Edwin Encarnacion(R) DH

Justin Smoak(S) 1B

Russell Martin(R) C

Devon Travis(R) 2B

Kevin Pillar(R) CF

Darwin Barney(R) SS

Ezequiel Carrera(L) LF

J.A. Happ LHP

Jacoby Ellsbury(L) CF

Rob Refsnyder(R) RF

Mark Teixeira(S) 1B

Carlos Beltran(S) DH

Starlin Castro(R) 2B

Chase Headley(S) 3B

Austin Romine(R) C

Didi Gregorius(L) SS

Aaron Hicks(S) LF

CC Sabathia LHP