Oakland @ New York preview

Last Meeting ( Jul 24, 2011 ) Oakland 5, NY Yankees 7

THE STORY: The New York Yankees return home from a successful seven-game road trip that has them sitting atop the American League East but slightly awash with controversy courtesy of A.J. Burnett's awful performance Saturday night. This will be the final week that the Yankees go with a six-man rotation, so Bartolo Colon will get first crack at cementing his spot in the starting five when he faces the Oakland Athletics on Tuesday in the opener of a three-game series. Yankees manager Joe Girardi spent Saturday night and Sunday trying to downplay any potential rift with Burnett, who appeared to shout at the manager when he was pulled after only 1 2/3 innings. In other words, it's like old times in the Bronx.

TV: 7:05 p.m. ET, CSCA (Oakland), WWOR (New York)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Athletics RH Brandon McCarthy (6-6, 3.74 ERA) vs. Yankees RH Bartolo Colon (8-7, 3.54 ERA).

McCarthy struggled last time out, allowing four runs in six innings against Baltimore. He still got the victory to improve to 5-1 in his last seven starts. McCarthy keeps the ball in the park, allowing only six home runs in 118 innings, but he'll be tested by a lineup that leads the majors with 168 homers. In four career appearances (two starts), he's 1-0 with a bloated 7.36 ERA vs. New York.

Colon also labored in his last start, taking the loss after yielding five runs in five innings at Kansas City. He is winless in his last three starts and has surrendered four homers in that span. The 38-year-old Colon has not gone past six innings in his last four starts. He limited Oakland to two runs on eight hits in seven innings on July 24. David DeJesus is 5-for-11 with two homers against him.

ABOUT THE YANKEES (77-48): New York is getting solid production up and down the lineup, scoring 43 runs in going 5-2 on its road swing through Kansas City and Minnesota. Curtis Granderson and Mark Teixeira rank second and third in the majors with 35 and 34 homers, respectively, and are 1-2 in the American League in RBIs with 98 and 95. Robinson Cano is riding a 13-game hitting streak and Derek Jeter has hit safely in nine of his last 10. Alex Rodriguez made his long-awaited return to the lineup Sunday and was hitless in five at-bats. New York holds a one-game lead over Boston in the AL East.

ABOUT THE ATHLETICS (57-70): Oakland managed to split a four-game series with Toronto despite scoring only seven runs and getting shut out twice. The Athletics managed just one hit in Sunday’s 1-0 loss and now have to contend with a 10-game road trip to New York, Boston and Cleveland. Josh Willingham has ratcheted up the power in the past month with nine home runs and 20 RBIs in his last 22 games. Recent acquisition Brandon Allen has been a revelation. Promoted from Triple-A on Aug. 13, he is batting .379 with a pair of doubles and two triples in nine games.

FINAL PITCH: The Athletics are tied with Seattle for the most road losses (40) in the AL. That mark doesn’t figure to improve at Yankee Stadium, where Oakland has won only two of its last 16 games.