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Rasner gets spot start vs. Oakland in place of Pavano

Apr 14, 2007 - 2:51 PM NY Yankees (4-5) at Oakland (5-6) 9:05 pm EDT

OAKLAND, California (Ticker) -- With Carl Pavano once again bothered by an injury, the New York Yankees will hand the ball to Darrell Rasner.

Pavano was scratched from his scheduled start due to soreness in his right elbow and forearm, so it is Rasner who takes the mound on Saturday in the second game of a three-game series against the Oakland Athletics.

Rasner (0-1,10.38 ERA) will try and produce a better start than his last one, in which he was touched for five runs and eight hits and 4 1/3 innings in a 6-4 loss to Baltimore.

Oakland rallied from a 4-1 deficit to beat the Yankees, 5-4, in 11 innings on Friday. Nick Swisher hit the game-tying home run off Kyle Farnsworth and the A's won it in the 11th when Travis Buck tripled and scored on a fielder's choice by Bobby Kielty.

The Yankees are looking to rebound from Friday's loss by facing a pitcher they have handled in limited opportunities.

Joe Blanton, who is 0-2 with a 13.50 ERA against New York, gets the start for the Athletics.

Blanton (1-0, 3.97) is coming off a solid performance in his first start of the year. The burly righthander allowed one run and five hits in 5 1/3 innings in a 2-1 win over the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim last Sunday.