Michael Pineda vs J.A. Happ in Game 2

By Bob Elliott

Stacking Up
Toronto       New York         
29     Runs       35
2         Rank          1
9       HR         9
.291      OBP       .366
4.28     ERA        4.30
9         Rank          10
.253        BAA      .266
64       K’s       51

Starting Pitchers
Tuesday
RHP Masahiro Tanaka vs RHP Aaron Sanchez Marcus Stroman 7:07 p.m.
 

Wednesday
RHP Michael Pineda vs LHP J.A. Happ 7:07 p.m.
 

Thursday
RHP Nathan Eovaldi vs RHP Marcus Stroman 7:07 p.m.

Who’s Hot
2B Starlin Castro has fit right into Pinstripes batting .450 with a 1.326 which is a five-game small sample size.

C Brian McCann owns a .467 average with a homer and two RBIs.

1B Mark Teixeira is batting .278 but has a .992 OPS thanks to two homers and five RBIs.
    
Who’s Cold
You could say the whole team considering the weather the Yanks experienced at home (vs. Astros) and in Detroit, but 3B Chase Headley is hitting .083 (1-for-12) with a .226 OPS.

LF Brett Gardner owns a .286 average after five games with a homer and five RBIs.

CF Jacoby Ellsbury is hitting .217 with four RBIs.

Elliott’s Take
The Jays have the eighth-best ERA among starting staffs at this early going, while the Yankees are 13th (6.41) ahead of only the Red Sox and the Astros in the AL.

However, if the game gets turned over to the bullpens, which games always are in this era, especially in April, the pendulum swings New York’s way. The Yanks -- without Aroldis Chapman for another 25 games -- has combined for the lowest bullpen ERA at 1.04 (1-1, two saves). The Jays are 11th at 4.58 (0-3, three saves).

Until the Jays bullpen sorts itself out we give the nod to the Yankees two of three and we have not been wrong since ... last year.