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Phillies-Yankees Preview

Jun 16, 2010 - 4:20 AM By KATE HEDLIN STATS Writer

Philadelphia (32-29) at New York (40-23), 7:05 p.m. EDT

Picking up where they left off last fall, the New York Yankees put on another impressive offensive display against the Philadelphia Phillies in the opener of a three-game series in the Bronx.

With Alex Rodriguez hoping to return Wednesday night, that domination has a very good chance to continue as the teams that battled for six games in the 2009 World Series head in opposite directions.

Rodriguez hopes to be back in the starting lineup - either at third base or as the designated hitter - after he sat out New York's 8-3 win over Philadelphia on Tuesday night - the fourth straight game the star third baseman has missed because of a groin injury.

"We want to be smart about this and take more of a long-term approach," Rodriguez said. "Obviously, it's something we have to keep an eye on."

The three-time MVP was hitting .317 in the last 10 games before the injury sidelined him. He went 0 for 8 with six strikeouts in the first two games of the '09 World Series, but was 5 for 12 with six RBIs over the final four games.

The Yankees (41-23) haven't slowed offensively even without Rodriguez, scoring 30 runs over their last four games. On Tuesday, Curtis Granderson, Mark Teixeira and Nick Swisher homered off Roy Halladay as New York won its ninth in a row at home and scored at least six runs for the fifth straight game against the Phillies.

"We've got a lot of depth from top to bottom," left fielder Brett Gardner said. "No matter the lineup we throw out there and no matter who's on the mound for us, we feel like we have the best team."

While New York is a season-high 18 games over .500, Philadelphia (32-30) continues to slump and has dropped into third place in the NL East. The Phillies have lost four of five and 15 of 21, giving up eight or more runs in four of their last six games.

"Everybody's concerned. You have to be. But you can't let that affect how you play going forward," Halladay said.

The Phillies will try to bounce back when they face A.J. Burnett (6-4, 3.86 ERA), who had a forgettable start when he faced them in Game 5, giving up six runs while walking four in two innings of an 8-6 loss in Philadelphia. However, he was dominant in Game 2 at home, allowing one run and striking out nine in seven innings of a 3-1 win.

Burnett has lost his last two starts and four of his last six decisions. He gave up four runs in 6 2-3 innings of a 4-3 loss at Baltimore on Thursday, but has pitched extremely well at Yankee Stadium, going 3-1 with a 2.27 ERA.

Jamie Moyer (6-6, 5.03) will take the mound for the Phillies, trying to bounce back from one of the worst starts of his 24-year career.

Moyer gave up nine runs and nine hits in a 12-2 loss to Boston on Friday, failing to record an out in the second inning.

"It was quite obvious," Moyer said. "I didn't execute and when I did they hit the ball hard."

The left-hander is 10-9 with a 4.78 ERA in 34 starts and two relief appearances against the Yankees. This is his first time facing them since 2005 with Seattle.