After an epic win by the New York Yankees in the series opener, they look to take the series with the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley with a win on Saturday.
The New York Yankees were on the brink of defeat on Friday afternoon against the Chicago Cubs as they narrowly escaped with a 3-2 win thanks to a clutch home run by Brett Gardner.
While that was exciting in itself, manager Joe Girardi is handing the ball to rookie left-hander Jordan Montgomery on Saturday to hopefully make things go a little smoother.
The 24-year-old is coming off a no-decision on Sunday against the Baltimore Orioles in which he went five innings and allowed three runs while striking out seven in an eventual 7-4 loss. Montgomery set an early career-high in strikeouts and did not give up an extra-base hit marking the fifth time this season a Yankees starter threw at least five innings and did not surrender an extra-base hit.
Going for the Cubs will be Brett Anderson, coming off a start against the Philadelphia Phillies in which he surrendered seven earned runs on seven hits in just 1.1 innings pitched.
In five career starts against New York, the lefty has registered four losses, owns a 6.53 ERA and has given up six home runs in 30.1 innings.
LINEUPS:
#Yankees lineup @ Cubs:
Gardner LF
Hicks CF
Castro 2B
Judge RF
Sanchez C
Didi SS
Headley 3B
Carter 1B
Montgomery LHP— Christian Kouroupakis (@ckouroupakis) May 6, 2017
Chicago Cubs Lineup: Schwarber Sits, Zobrist Leading Off, Almora Batting Sixth https://t.co/teqhBmek3u #cubs #MLB pic.twitter.com/o5VQZHxXNj
— Chicago Cubs News (@TrackClubsNews) May 6, 2017
Don’t Count Them Out:
With Friday’s comeback win after being down 2-0, it marked the Yankees’ ninth come-from-behind win of the season. Kind of crazy when you realize that exactly half of a team’s wins have come via the comeback.
Furthermore, it gave New York its seventh win when trailing after five innings, good enough for the second-most in the majors behind the Houston Astros, who have recorded eight wins when trailing after five.
Player To Watch: Kris Bryant:
Bryant, who smoked a pitch of Friday’s starter Michael Pineda for his sixth home run of the season, is an absolute lefty-killing machine.
The reigning National League MVP owns a .429/.571/1.048 slash line and three home runs off southpaws in 2017. His 1.619 OPS against them leads all NL hitters with at least 25 at-bats.
Central State Of Mind:
The Yankees have won nine of their last 11 contests with National League Central teams including the first four (three against St. Louis, one against Chicago) of 2017. They are 27-11 since the start of 2010 and 50-24 in 74 overall games.
Where/When Can I See/Watch Today’s Action?
- Time: 7:15 p.m. ET
- TV: FOX Sports 1
- Radio: WFAN 660AM/101.9FM (English), WADO 1280AM (Spanish)
- Place: Wrigley Field, Chicago, IL
