After a disappointing road trip for the New York Yankees, they’ll look to start a successful seven-game homestand against the Los Angeles Angels.
By Christian Kouroupakis
Now, the Yankees are in seek of a bounce back and will look to maintain their domination of the Los Angeles Angels when they open up a four-game series on Monday at Yankee Stadium.
Since the start of 2010, New York owns a 17-7 record against the Halos at the Stadium including five straight wins as the home team.
The Angels, who own the same overall record as the Bombers, are coming off their fourth victory in six contests after losing six of their previous nine following a 5-4 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday.
The Yankees, who went 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position yesterday, will be looking for the same opportunities with more luck in a series that should be a well-played one. Here’s everything you need to know before the first pitch is thrown tonight.
Pitching Matchups:
Game 1: Matt Shoemaker (3-6, 5.50 ERA) vs. Masahiro Tanaka (3-1, 2.78)
Tanaka is coming off his first loss of the 2016 season despite allowing just two runs (one earned) over seven innings against the Toronto Blue Jays.
In his lone start against the Angels, the 27-year old struck out 11 in 6.1 innings in a no-decision effort back in 2014.
Shoemaker has allowed just four runs and struck out 31 batters in the 22.2 innings that have been a part of his latest three starts. Shoemaker has struck out 33 batters since he last allowed a walk which is a franchise record.
Game 2: TBA vs Michael Pineda (2-6, 6.41 ERA)
Pineda’s last start may have kept him in the rotation as it was one of his better starts of the season. It was a no-decision-effort on Thursday in Detroit as Big Mike surrendered only one run over 5.2 innings of work while striking out eight.
Game 3: Jered Weaver (5-4, 5.18 ERA) vs Nathan Eovaldi (6-2, 4.09)
Unfortunately for Nasty Nate, his five-start winning streak came to an end last time out against the Baltimore Orioles on Friday night after earning a no-decision. Nevertheless, the hard-throwing righty has not been defeated in eight starts.
In his career against the Angels, Eovaldi owns a 2-1 record with a 3.60 ERA and has surrendered 26 hits in his four starts against them.
Opposing him is the 33-year old who has six quality starts in his last 11 outings. In 15 career starts against New York, he owns a 5.83 ERA.
Game 4: Jhoulys Chacin (2-3, 4.50) vs Ivan Nova (4-3, 4.41)
The Angles had moved Chacin up in the rotation and he struggled with his command on Saturday against Pittsburgh. Prior to his rough outing, the righty tossed a complete game consisting of ten strikeouts.
Nova is coming off an offensive-assisted win against Baltimore in which he surrendered five runs but still came away with the victory. The man who started as a long man just in April has surrendered four or more runs in each of his last three outings to bump his season ERA from 3.65 to 4.41.
Players To Watch:
Brett Garnder
Following a 0-for-23 slump entering the Yankees’ weekend series with Baltimore, Brett Gardner exploded by going 7-for-12 in the three-game set including two doubles and two runs scored.
In his last 11 games against the Angels, the speedster owns a .386 batting average to go along with his career slashline of .274/.350/.390. In his three at-bats against Shoemaker, tonight’s starter, he is 1-for-3.
Yunel Escobar and Mike Trout
The Angels’ third baseman, Yunel Escobar, owns a .349 batting average in his last 32 games and is also a .282 career hitter at Yankee Stadium featuring four home runs in 32 games. Mike Trout has four long balls in his past five contests and is a career .360 hitter at Yankee Stadium.
Key To A Series Win:
Get The ‘Pen Back On Track:
Specifically, Dellin Betances. In the righty’s last 4.2 innings of work, he has surrendered six runs (11.57 ERA) on seven hits while walking three while watching his earned run average climb from 2.01 entering this road trip to 3.54 as we begin this four-game set at Yankee Stadium.
It’s quite simple for the Yankees: they will not turn their season in a winning direction if the bullpen, which was established to shorten contests considerably, fails to live up to the hype. So, the key to this series along with the key to resurrecting this season is to get back to bullpen dominance.
Game Times:
- Game 1: Monday, 7:05 PM ET, YES Network
- Game 2: Tuesday, 7:05 PM ET, WPIX
- Game 3: Wednesday, 7:05 PM ET, YES Network
- Game 4: Thursday, 7:05 PM ET, YES Network
Bold Prediction:
The New York Yankees sweep away the Angels and get back into striking distance in the American League East. Tanaka gets a win by going at least seven innings and Betances doesn’t allow a single earned run nor walk.