Pirates' record better than mighty Yankees

PITTSBURGH — When the interleague schedule was released, this looked to be one of baseball's worst possible mismatches: Pirates vs. Yankees in Yankee Stadium. Minuscule payroll vs. megasized one. Small-market ball vs. the biggest of the big markets.

Expectations and accomplishments aside — the Yankees have won four World Series championships since the Pirates' last winning season — the financial imbalance couldn't be much greater. After all, the Yankees' Alex Rodriguez ($25.7 million) could pick up the salaries of the entire Pittsburgh starting lineup and still have millions left over.

No wonder the Pirates are fielding question after question about playing in Yankee Stadium starting Tuesday, and whether they will be unnerved or distracted during their first regular-season series in one of baseball's storied ballparks.

"It can be an intimidating stadium," pitcher Brian Meadows said. "I've played there, and I'm ready for it. You've got to go there and play the team, you're not playing the city or the stadium."

But here's one possibility nobody considered back in December, most certainly not oft-volcanic Yankees owner George Steinbrenner: What if those not-a-household-name-in-the-bunch Pirates came into the series with a better record than the Yankees?

Check the standings: Despite a 7-5, 13-inning loss Sunday to awful Tampa Bay that manager Lloyd McClendon called their worst all season, the Pirates are 30-31 heading into the franchise's first games in Yankee Stadium since the 1960 World Series.

The Pirates are coming off a 9-4 homestand against the Marlins, Braves, Orioles and Devil Rays, even though Sunday's loss prevented them from being over .500 for the first time so late in a season since 1997.

The Yankees? Despite a $205 million payroll that about equals those of the Pirates' last five seasons combined, they are 30-32 following a just-concluded 3-9 road trip. For comparison's sake, they were 40-21 and the Pirates were 24-35 on June 13 a year ago — a 15 1/2-game swing in a year's time.

So, rather than asking the Pirates how it feels being on the same field with Rodriguez, Hideki Matsui, Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera, shouldn't someone ask the Yankees about facing Rob Mackowiak (.410 average since May 3) or Jack Wilson (.378 average since May 30)?

Uh, maybe not.

"What I've said all along is if we pitch well, we can compete against the big teams," McClendon said.