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Yankees-Athletics Preview

Aug 19, 2009 - 6:26 AM By ANTHONY GIORNALISTA STATS Senior Writer

New York (75-45) at Oakland (53-66), 10:05 p.m. EDT

Derek Jeter is enjoying one of his best stretches of the season. The New York Yankees could certainly use another big game from their captain as they try out another No. 5 starter.

Jeter looks to continue his hot streak as Chad Gaudin makes his Yankees debut Wednesday night against the Oakland Athletics, one of his former clubs.

New York (75-45) won for the first time in three games Tuesday night, getting three hits from Jeter for the third straight contest en route to a 7-2 victory over Oakland (53-66) in the middle game of this series. Jeter knocked in the go-ahead run with a single in the sixth inning.

It's been an outstanding run for Jeter, who is 20 for 36 with three homers over his last nine games to raise his average 18 points to .330.

"He's been good all year for us," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "He's done a good job in that leadoff spot. He's sparked so many things."

Jeter's latest effort helped New York bounce back after going 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position in a 3-0 loss to Oakland on Monday night.

The Yankees may need another strong performance from their lineup as they send Gaudin (1-0, 5.40 ERA) to the mound. He's making his first start with New York after being acquired in a deal with San Diego on Aug. 6.

Gaudin has made a pair of relief appearances for the Yankees, including a pair of scoreless innings to earn the win in a 4-3, 11-inning victory over Toronto last Wednesday.

The right-hander went 4-10 with a 5.23 ERA in 19 starts for the Padres, losing his last four decisions. He won a career-high 11 games while spending the 2007 season in Oakland's rotation, but was terrible in his only career start against the Athletics, surrendering seven runs and seven hits in one inning for Toronto in a 12-4 loss June 5, 2005.

Gaudin will try to give the Yankees some consistent starts from the No. 5 spot in the rotation, which has been a weakness all year as Chien-Ming Wang, Phil Hughes, Alfredo Aceves and Sergio Mitre have all taken turns.

Gaudin is taking over for Mitre, who went 2-1 with a 6.04 ERA in six starts after being called up from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on July 21 to replace Wang, who was 1-6 with a 9.64 ERA before undergoing season-ending shoulder surgery.

Brett Anderson (7-8, 4.55), set to take his turn in the A's rotation, had been mostly steady and sometimes spectacular before his last outing. The rookie right-hander endured the worst start of his career Friday night, allowing seven runs and nine hits in five innings of Oakland's 8-7, 10-inning loss to the Chicago White Sox.

Anderson, who had a 21-inning scoreless streak earlier this season, had given up three runs or fewer in eight of his previous nine outings.

He is 0-1 with a 6.75 ERA in two starts versus the Yankees.

He'll face a New York team that should have Hideki Matsui in the lineup for the second straight game. Matsui went 2 for 4 with an RBI on Tuesday after missing three straight contests due to a recurring left knee injury.

Matsui, whose injury has relegated him to the DH spot, is batting .314 in 49 road games. He has three homers in his last five games overall and 19 on the season.

New York leads the majors with 182 homers, but hasn't gone deep in the last two games.

Solo homers by Kurt Suzuki and Tommy Everidge gave Oakland its only runs Tuesday. The A's have scored nine total runs while splitting their last four games.