Final Score: Yankees 8, Toronto 1. Bobby Abreu bats 3rd and goes 3 for 5. In the 3rd hole he is now 5 for 10. As the #5 batter...before Joe Torre awoke and changed Bobby's spot in the lineup...he was 0 for 3.
Not that the man will bat .500 for the remainder of the season, but if anyone is a #3-hitter on this team, it's him. Even when Sheffield returns, it should be a shared spot, with Abreu batting 3rd against certain pitchers in certain ballparks, and Gary handled in the same manner. And, if Joe continues to listen to common frickin sense, that's how it will go.
UPPERDATER
"In his first four at-bats, Abreu saw seven, five, six and eight pitches. In the eight-pitch at-bat against lefty Scott Schoeneweis, Abreu fell behind 0-2 with two out and no one on. He fouled off two pitches en route to working the count full before swatting an opposite-field double. That started the Yanks toward a three-run surge that put the game away, culminated by Wilson's two-run single off Schoeneweis."
Not only does this wear a pitching staff out, it also means that the batters AFTER Abreu get to see every pitch the hurler HAS up his sleeve. Leadoff man Damon is patient, but Jeter at #2 is not. Abreu is flat out spooky and a pitcher tosses everything up to and including the kitchen sink at him while hitting coach Mattingly...one of the best pure hitters to ever play the game... watches from the dugout. This doesn't mean that less talented batters can do what Bobby does, but it DOES mean they have a much better chance to guess what's coming. When Sheffield returns I'd be very tempted to bat Abreu leadoff and Damon 9th. Cano...when HE comes back...at 8th is a pain in the ass on the basepaths, Damon is hell on wheels at finding a hole to drop in a hit, and then it's back to Abreu again to make the pitcher groan.
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