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Yankees-Blue Jays Preview

Sep 4, 2009 - 4:36 AM By CHRIS ALTRUDA STATS Editor

New York (85-48) at Toronto (59-73), 7:07 p.m. EDT

At some point, the New York Yankees envision Joba Chamberlain lasting deep into nearly every start the way Roy Halladay does for the Toronto Blue Jays. Right now, though, the immediate future and keeping their young pitcher fresh for the playoffs take priority.

The red-hot Yankees continue their series with the Blue Jays on Friday in search of an eighth straight victory.

With a comfortable 7 1/2-game lead atop the AL East, the Yankees (86-48) can afford to keep Chamberlain (8-3, 4.38 ERA) under wraps as they prepare for the postseason. The 23-year-old right-hander was limited to 35 pitches in three innings Sunday against the Chicago White Sox, who reached him for two runs and four hits before New York eventually won 8-3.

"It's good that we're winning. Because I'm sure if we weren't playing well and we weren't winning, then people would make a bigger story out of it," Derek Jeter said. "But you have to realize that Joba hopefully is going to be here for a long time, so in the same sense you want to make sure that he's healthy."

In his first full season in the rotation, Chamberlain has logged 133 2-3 innings in 25 starts - more than his combined career total over the previous two years. The Yankees used him as a set-up man in 2007, before a two-month stint as a starter in 2008.

Chamberlain has not received a decision in either of his starts against Toronto (59-74) this year, yielding 12 runs - seven earned - and 14 hits in 9 2-3 innings as the Yankees have rallied to win both games. He is 1-1 with one save and a 3.38 ERA in 11 lifetime appearances versus the Blue Jays, four of them starts.

While Chamberlain has yet to throw a complete game in his 37 career starts, Halladay (13-8, 3.13) has 14 in that same span - five of them coming this year - and is 10 innings shy of reaching 200 for the fourth straight season. The right-hander, though, has a 7.94 ERA while losing his last three starts - matching a career high.

Halladay was reached for four runs and seven hits in six innings of a 7-0 defeat at Boston on Sunday, his fifth loss in seven outings.

"At times, everything was good," Halladay told the Blue Jays' official Web site. "Then you make a bad pitch or two, and teams like this are going to make you pay for it. If you make a couple mistakes here or there, and you don't score runs, it's tough."

He is 1-1 with a 3.60 ERA in three starts versus New York this season, including a complete-game loss in a 5-3 defeat Aug. 4, when he allowed 10 hits while seeing his personal six-game winning streak against the Yankees snapped. Halladay is 16-6 with a 2.94 ERA in 33 starts and 35 games against New York - 9-2 with a 2.72 ERA in 16 starts at home.

Halladay's struggles come at an inopportune time for Toronto, as the Yankees are batting .317 and averaging 8.1 runs during their current winning streak. Jose Posada became the seventh New York player to reach 20 homers in Thursday's 10-5 victory, tying a major league record established by the 1996 Baltimore Orioles and later matched by the 2000 Blue Jays and 2005 Texas Rangers.

"Jorge is very valuable to this team," said Alex Rodriguez, who added his 24th homer and 577th of his career. "Him and (Mark Teixeira), being switch-hitters, they're so important to our lineup. They present a lot of problems for opposing managers."

Posada, batting .478 with five homers and 13 RBIs his last six games, is hitting .286 with two homers lifetime versus Halladay.