Yankees At Blue Jays: Bartolo Colon Opens For New York

(Sports Network) - It's been an action-packed few days for the New York Yankees and they will kick off the second half of the season tonight in the opener of a four-game series against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre.

Derek Jeter's quest for 3,000 hits is in the past, Alex Rodriguez will miss a significant amount of time after undergoing knee surgery, Robinson Cano showed off his stroke by winning the Home Run Derby during All-Star Game festivities and one year ago legendary Yankees owner George Steinbrenner passed away.

With that strong mix of emotion, the Bronx Bombers get back to work against the AL East-rival Blue Jays up north and will also visit Tampa Bay for four games on this upcoming eight-game road swing. The Yankees entered the All-Star break having won two straight and 10 of 14 games, and sit just one game behind idle Boston for division supremacy.

Bartolo Colon will handle pitching duties for the Yankees and was 4-0 with a 1.00 earned run average before losing to the Rays in last Thursday's 5-1 loss at Yankee Stadium. Colon was reached for five runs and 10 hits in 5 2/3 frames with four walks and one strikeout. The right-hander is 6-4 with a 3.20 ERA in 15 games (12 starts) and lost to Toronto on May 23. In a 7-3 setback in the Bronx, the Jays hit Colon up for six runs and seven hits in six innings.