Yankees at Jays

The New York Yankees take on the Toronto Blue Jays in game 1 of 4 tonight at 7:00PM on the YES network. The Yankees enter the game having won 6 in a row and 23 of their last 29 overall. They are 7 1/2 games ahead of the Boston Red Sox in first place in the AL East and 6 1/2 ahead of the Anaheim Angels for homefield advantage. They are creeping ever closer to clinching the 1 seed in the postseason. Here are the pregame notes and lineup via Peter Abraham and his Lohud Yankees Blog. The Blue Jays were 27-14 on May 18 and in first place by 3 1/2 games. They have gone 32-59 since that point. They have lost 3 straight, 6 of 7 and 14 of their last 18. The Yankees have a run differential of +141 which is the best in the majors but according to the formula they should have 79 wins. Derek Jeter is 9 hits away from breaking Lou Gehrig's hits record. The Yankees have 208 homeruns, at this pace they would hit 253 which would break the franchise record which is 242 by the 2004 team. The major league record is 264 by the 1997 Seattle Mariners. Johnny Damon has a 7 game hitting streak and is now hitting 293. A-rod has hit safely in 11 straight batting 419 during the stretch. He has 11 rbi's and his batting avg has climbed from 254 to 274. Phil Hughes who is the closer for now until Mo comes back has a 1.14 era in 31 relief appearances. In his last 10 outings he has pitched 10 innings giving up 0 runs, 3 walks and 14 strikeouts. I think he could be a dominant reliever but he needs to be a starter next yr and the only thing will be the innings, will it be like Joba this year. The Yankees have outscored their opponents 47-14 in the 6 game winning streak. Derek Jeter is only 3 of his last 13 and Hideki Matsui is 4 of his last 24 with 2 rbi's. Melky Cabrera has broken out of his slump going 10 fo his last 24 and now batting 274. Jon Albaladejo was called up today. Yankees Lineup: Jeter(SS) Damon(LF) Teixeira(1B) Rodriguez(3B) Matsui(DH) Posada(C) Cano(2B) Swisher(RF) Cabrera(CF)