Jays-Yanks called; twin bill set for Saturday
NEW YORK -- The division showdown between the Yankees and Blue Jays was postponed on Thursday due to a continued forecast of inclement weather, with the game rescheduled as the second game of a single-admission doubleheader to be played Saturday at Yankee Stadium.
Luis Severino will now pitch Friday against Toronto's David Price, with Ivan Nova and Michael Pineda making the starts for New York in Saturday's twin bill; Yankees manager Joe Girardi said that he had not yet decided who would start the first game on Saturday. Masahiro Tanaka will pitch on Sunday.
"It's not ideal for your pitching," Girardi said. "The thought process is you're probably not going to use relievers twice in a day. You might, depending on how hard they were worked and what their workload was before.
"It forces you to insert a starter, maybe quicker than you wanted to. It just changes your flexibility in a sense. For some position players, it might help them, but it taxes your pitching staff."
The first game of Saturday's doubleheader will begin at 1:05 p.m. ET, and the second game will start approximately 30 minutes following the conclusion of the first game. Gates will open to fans with valid tickets at 11 a.m.
FOX will broadcast the first game of the doubleheader, and the YES Network will broadcast the second game. Fans holding paid tickets for Thursday's game may exchange their paid tickets for any regular-season game at Yankee Stadium through the end of the 2016 season (subject to availability).
The Yankees said that there is "very limited" ticket availability for Saturday's doubleheader. The single-admission doubleheader is the Yanks' third in the last three seasons; they also played them on May 13, 2013, at Cleveland and May 18, 2014, vs. Pittsburgh.
Girardi said that he tentatively plans to have CC Sabathia start on Monday against the Rays at Tropicana Field, and the Yankees will have to insert an additional starter for Tuesday. Girardi said that he opted not to have Adam Warren start on Monday, because Warren could be needed this weekend.
In the short term, Girardi said that Thursday's rainout could wind up benefiting the 21-year-old Severino, who is slated to make his seventh big league start and his second against the Blue Jays.
"Every start, there was real meaning to it," Girardi said. "He had to deal with that, and he dealt with that extremely well in my eyes, so for me to not think that he's going to deal with this just doesn't make sense. I think he'll be fine tomorrow, and no matter what happens, I'm not going to say it's because of the extra day, because he's handled everything thus far."
The Yankees said that Thursday's Babe Ruth bobblehead giveaway, presented by AT&T, will be rescheduled for a date to be determined in 2016. For complete information about the Yankees' rainout policy, please visit yankees.com/rainout.