Masahiro Tanaka is a different pitcher with five days' rest. He's 8-1 with a 2.34 ERA in 15 career starts on five days' rest. He last pitched on Tuesday and the Yanks have been tough at home all year.
Joe Giradi mixed up the batting order on Sunday and it paid off. These are must win games for the Yanks against division opponents if they want to move up in the playoff chase.
Tanaka comes in hot, having gone 4-0 with a 1.93 ERA in his last five starts. The Yankees (3.5 games out in the Wild Card race with still 27 games left to play) aren't dead yet after Sunday's win at Baltimore. They have a big pitching edge today against R.A. Dickey, who is already 0-2 versus the Yanks in two previous starts this season. I look for the NY Yankees to improve to 12-1 in Tanaka's last 13 starts at Yankee Stadium.