Game 32: New York Yankees at Toronto Blue Jays

When A.J. Burnett (2-0, 5.26 ERA) steps on the mound at Rogers Centre for tonight's matchup against the Blue Jays, the righthander will feel right at home.

The Yankee pitcher will take the ball as he looks to lead the New York Yankees back to .500 when he faces his former team for the first time.

Burnett and Toronto ace Roy Halladay (6-1, 3.29 ERA) combined to win 90 games between 2006 and 2008 while teammates on the Blue Jays. The duo never lead the team above a fourth place finish.

After going 18-10 with a 4.07 ERA and 231 strikeouts in 2008, Burnett opted out of his contract and signed a five year, $82.5 million deal with the Yankees. That won't endear him to the fans at Rogers Centre.

Burnett originally signed with the Blue Jays to learn from Halladay, a Cy Young winner. During spring training, Burnett credited Halladay with teaching the Yankees pitcher how to pitch and avoid injury.

Burnett got out of the gate quickly this season, but has struggled as of late. After winning his first two starts of the season, the Yankee pitcher is 0-0 with a 6.66 ERA in his last four starts. During that streak, he's allowed 25 hits,18 earned runs, 13 walks and five home runs in 24 1/3 innings.

In his last start, Burnett pitched six innings and gave up three runs against Tampa Bay in a no-decision. The Yankees eventually lost that game, 4-3, in 10 innings.

Halladay will look to continue his dominance of the Yankees in tonight's game. The pitcher is 15-5 with a 2.86 ERA lifetime against the Yankees. In three home starts last year against the team, Halladay went 3-0 with a 1.80 ERA and two complete games.

Halladay has won his last five starts against the Yankees, dating back to last season.

Here's your starting lineup:
Gardner CF
Damon LF
Teixeira 1B
Rodriguez 3B
Matsui DH
Cano 2B
Cabrera RF
Cash C
Pena SS

And, on the mound, A.J. Burnett.

First pitch is 7:07 p.m., and you can catch all the action on My9.

UPDATE (5:05 P.M.): Derek Jeter has been scratched from the lineup for an oblique pull. No word on how much time he'll miss.

My Thoughts:
1. Finally, some competition. The Blue Jays are looking to use this series to prove their 22-12 start is no fluke. The Jays have only played three games against AL East competiton, sweeping a series with the Orioles. The Yankees are struggling, but winning the series would seem to prove their early success isn't a mirage.
2. Burnett must pitch a gem tonight. You hate to put pressure on a starting pitcher to have to pitch a great game, but tonight is one of those situations. As the numbers above show, Halladay has owned the Yankees throughout his career. This could very well end up being a 1-0, 2-0 kind of game. In that situation, I hope we see Halladay on the losing end of that score. But Burnett has been quite inconsistent, and I think all Yankee fans would like to see a quality start from our other big-name pitcher.

That's all my thoughts on the game. By the way, fell free to use these game previes as spots to post anything you notice during the games, etc. Just keep it clean and intelligent.