Squeeze Play: Yankees @ Mariners

vs.

Right-hander Miguel Batista and the Seattle Mariners (13-13) will try to rain on the New York Yankees' (14-15) Roger Clemens Parade when they face righty Matt DeSalvo, who is so brand-spankin' new that he's not even on the 40-man roster, at 7:05pm ET tonight.

Batista is looking for his third straight victory after going 2-0 with a 2.84 ERA in his last two starts. He is 2-1 with a 5.04 ERA in four regular season starts against the Yankees, while posting a 3.65 ERA against them in 12 relief appearances. Back in the day, Batista faced New York twice in the 2001 World Series with the Arizona Diamondbacks, pitching 7.2 scoreless innings in his Game 5 start.

Making his big league debut, DeSalvo will become the 10th starter used by the Yankees this season. The 26-year-old rookie went 1-0 with a 1.05 ERA in five starts with the AAA Scranton/Wilkes Barre Yankees this year.

Derek Jeter is 5-for-7 over his last two games to raise his average to .353, tying him with Alex Rodriguez for the team lead. How sweet. A-Rod is 3-for-12 in this series and has remained stagnant with his league-best 14 homers since April 23rd.

Ichiro Suzuki is slumping for Seattle, going 2-for-22 over the last six games. Furthermore, the center fielder is hitting .188 on the road this season.

[MLB]