Yankees vs Stros

[BronxBomberz]

The third time through the rotation has wiped clean a lot of the new car smell from Joba Chamberlain's transition into a big league starting pitcher.

His pitch count is rising into acceptable territory, the secondary pitches are crossing the plate, and the Yankees right-hander is one lengthy outing away from being considered another one of the five regular guys.

"It's as normal as normal can get," Chamberlain said. "It continues every day. It hasn't been normal since I got here, so it's just something I'm going to continue to work at and try to get better. You just do your job and let everything else take care of itself."

Chamberlain's first start on June 3 may have produced 62 of the most hyped pitches ever thrown by a big leaguer -- especially one who didn't complete the third inning.

He was better in a second start on June 8 vs. Kansas City, twirling 4 1/3 innings, but now the Yankees are ready to take the training wheels off and allow Chamberlain into the neighborhood of 90 pitches.

That makes Friday's start at Houston arguably Chamberlain's first as a full-fledged starter.

"This feels pretty normal," manager Joe Girardi said. "You look at our other pitchers and they stay around anywhere from 90 to 110 [pitches]. This is pretty normal now."

Friday will mark Chamberlain's first career road start, having started to work his curveball and changeup into play more effectively.

Eight of the nine curveballs Chamberlain threw to Royals hitters dropped in for strikes, as well as two of the three changeups he tried. For feedback on what to throw and when, Chamberlain has leaned on the advice of some of New York's veteran batters.

"I think the most beneficial part is talking to the hitters, because those are the guys I'm trying to get out," Chamberlain said. "You see what they can recognize. I continue to ask questions but I try not to ask too many, because I tend to get overloaded. If I start thinking too much, I might get in trouble."

Not that the Astros won't already expect a steady diet of Chamberlain's bread and butter pitches, the fastball and slider. But if a situation calls for a curve or change, the 22-year-old takes comfort in knowing that they are there.

"In the situations that have come about, they feel really, really good," Chamberlain said.

Chamberlain said that his work inbetween starts now feels more like it did when he was pitching on a regular rotation schedule for the University of Nebraska. By that, he meant more his latter college years, but recently he's also had a taste of his first two seasons -- that is, Chamberlain's preparation schedule for this start at Houston also includes him wielding a bat.

Ardent Yankees fans already know that Joba can hit 100 mph on the radar gun. But can he send a baseball out as hard as he fires it in?

"We're going to find out," Chamberlain said. "I hit my freshman and sophomore years, but that was a long time ago. I was good, I could swing it a little bit. It's a little different with these guys -- they're a little bit better."

Interleague record: 113-81 overall, 0-2 in 2008

2008 Interleague Schedule
• May 16 vs. Mets: Postponed
• May 17 vs. Mets: Lost, 7-4
• May 18 vs. Mets: Lost, 11-2
• June 13 at Astros
• June 14 at Astros
• June 15 at Astros
• June 17 vs. San Diego
• June 18 vs. San Diego
• June 19 vs. San Diego
• June 20 vs. Reds
• June 21 vs. Reds
• June 22 vs. Reds
• June 24 at Pirates
• June 25 at Pirates
• June 26 at Pirates
• June 27 at Mets
• June 28 at Mets
• June 29 at Mets

Pitching matchup
NYY: RHP Joba Chamberlain (1-2, 2.67 ERA)
Chamberlain threw a career-high 4 1/3 innings against the Royals in his second outing as a Yankees starter Sunday. The right-hander gave up five hits and three runs (two earned) before exiting to record the no-decision at Yankee Stadium. Chamberlain avoided deep pitch counts early on, throwing just 13 pitches in the opening inning, compared to 38 in his debut. The improvement allowed him to stay into the fifth inning before leaving with a pitch count of 78. Chamberlain again relied on his fastball and slider to strike out five, though he added an occasional curveball and changeup to the mix.

HOU: RHP Shawn Chacon (2-2, 4.96 ERA)
Chacon has faced his former team only twice, and is 0-1 with a 14.54 ERA against them in a 4 1/3-inning sample. After pitching generally well the first two months of the season, Chacon has been hit hard in back-to-back defeats. He lasted one inning at Milwaukee on June 1, when he gave up four earned runs on two hits. In his most recent start, the Cardinals hit for the cycle in the second inning while scoring seven times. Chacon wound up going five innings, so over his last two starts, that's 11 earned runs allowed on 12 hits over six innings.

Tidbits
The Yankees are resuming Interleague Play with 15 consecutive games against the National League. They lead the Majors with an all-time winning percentage of .582 (113-81). ... The Yankees were part of the first game at Minute Maid Park, losing a 6-5 exhibition to the Astros on March 30, 2000. There was some perfect symmetry in that -- the Yankees also opened up the Astrodome on April 9, 1965, losing a 2-1 decision where Mickey Mantle hit the 'Eighth Wonder of the World's' first home run. ... The Yankees are 1-2 all-time in regulation play against the Astros, being outscored 16-11 in a three-game series at Yankee Stadium on June 10-12, 2003. ... On June 11, 2003, six Astros pitchers combined to no-hit New York in an 8-0 decision.

The Official Site of The New York Yankees: News: Joba looks to take next step

[nyjunc]

Joba pitched well allowing just 1 in 6 IP. He danced in and out of trouble a couple of times but overall looked pretty sharp and I am very excited about his progress. Jose Veras pitched 2 scoreless innigns and Kyle Farnsworth got the save in a big 2-1 win.