New York Yankees Notes: A-Rod, Burnett, Berkman and Matchups

The Yankees are back in the Bronx for a 10-game homestand starting with a four-game set against the Oakland Athletics today.

Here are some notes:

Alex Rodriguez will begin taking batting practice today and unless there are any setbacks he’ll be returning to the lineup as soon as he is eligible on September 5.

A.J. Burnett will not be skipped in the rotation and will pitch on schedule Wednesday.

Lance Berkman (ankle) will begin a two-game rehab assignment with the Double-A team tonight. No setbacks are expected, really the only reason he went on the DL was so the Yankees roster wasn’t short handed for a week.

Here are the pitching matchups:
Monday: RHP Trevor Cahill (14-5, 2.43) vs. Dustin Moseley (4-2, 4.53).
Tuesday: RHP Vin Mazzaro (6-6, 3.61) vs. RHP Phil Hughes (15-6, 4.12).
Wednesday: TBA vs. RHP A.J. Burnett (9-12, 5.17).
Thursday: TBA vs. LHP CC Sabathia (18-5, 3.14).

One of those TBA will be Dallas Braden.

The Yankees have their work cut out for them the rest of the season. There are 32 games left and only six of those games are against teams under-.500. Those games: this week against Oakland and Sept. 17-19 against Baltimore, and the Orioles have been playing a lot better of late.

The good news is that if the Yankees can manage to go .500 the rest of the season, the Red Sox would have to go 22-9 just to tie. That’s still doable for Boston, but it is a tall order. The Yankees and Red Sox have six games left head-to-head.