Game Preview: Yankees vs. Minnesota Twins-- Game 1

TV: YES | RADIO: WCBS 880, WNSW 1430

@
Yankee Stadium
7:05PM EDT

Blackburn (7-5)

Ponson (5-1)

Pitching matchup
NYY: RHP Sidney Ponson (5-1, 3.96 ERA)
Ponson, who signed with New York on June 18, will be making his fourth start in a Yankees uniform. In his last outing, he surrendered one earned run over six innings while recording two strikeouts against Tampa Bay. He is 1-0 with a 4.24 ERA in his brief tenure in New York, and possesses a 10-2 record and 2.42 ERA in 15 career appearances against Minnesota.

MIN: RHP Nick Blackburn (7-5, 3.65 ERA)
The sinkerballer has started to become more consistent, delivering quality starts in five of his last six outings. He's started to eliminate his problems with the big inning and could be a big factor for the Twins in the second half. This will be his second start against the Yankees.

Tidbits
Robinson Cano batted fifth on Sunday for just the second time this season. He's batted .303 since June 1 and is a career .337 hitter after the All-Star break. ... Reliever Brian Bruney, on the disabled list since April 25 with a right foot injury, pitched one inning for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Saturday and allowed one walk.

Up next
• Tuesday: Yankees (Darrell Rasner, 5-7, 4.97) vs. Twins (Kevin Slowey, 6-6, 4.26), 7:05 p.m. ET
• Wednesday: Yankees (Mike Mussina, 12-6, 3.49) vs. Twins (Glen Perkins, 7-2, 3.84), 1:05 p.m. ET
• Thursday: Off-day