After being roughed up by the Rockies for two games, the New York Yankees look to rebound against the lowly Minnesota Twins.
- New York Yankees (31-34)
- Minnesota Twins (20-45)
- American League, 8 PM ET, YES Network
- Target Field, Minneapolis, MN
Taking the hill for New York is the resurgent CC Sabathia who, through 10 starts, owns the lowest ERA of his 16-year career. Last time out, his resurrection sustained as he threw seven scoreless innings in a prevailing outing over the Detroit Tigers at Yankee Stadium.
In his last six starts, the lefty has posted a 0.71 ERA and has held opponents to a .487 OPS. He’ll look to play the role as “stopper” as he attempts to snap the Yankees’ four-game losing skid.
Opposing him for the Twins will be their first round pick from 2009, Kyle Gibson. The righty has yet to record a victory and will be making his second start since recovering from a sprained right shoulder. Against the Boston Red Sox in his first start in 42 games, Gibson went 5.2 innings while allowing five runs on seven hits.
In five outings against New York in his career, Gibson owns a 1-3 record with a 10.72 but his lone win came against Sabathia back in 2013.
Over his last 6 GS, CC Sabathia is 3-2 with a 0.71 ERA. That’s the lowest ERA over any six-start span in his career. pic.twitter.com/VZ7n54QqLC
— YES Network (@YESNetwork) June 16, 2016
Guess Who’s Back… Back Again…
Carlos Beltran will return to the lineup tonight after missing the series in Colorado with a swollen left knee. The 39-year-old is batting .277 with 16 homers and 44 RBIs in 62 games.
Carlos Beltran (knee) is back in the #Yankees lineup tonight at #Twins playing RF and batting 3rd. #NYY #MLB pic.twitter.com/VrX6govmK5
— Yankees MLB News (@YankeesMLBNews) June 16, 2016
Players To Watch:
Brian McCann:
In his career against Gibson, Brian McCann is 2-for-4 against him with a home run and five RBI. Of course, this is a small sample size, but the catcher is batting .160 in the past two weeks and owns a .190 overall average on the road and could use any optimistic numbers to help get him in the right mindset to succeed.
Alex Rodriguez:
No one hits the Minnesota Twins better than the Yankees’ designated hitter. Alex Rodriguez owns a .315/.389/.639 slashline with a 1.028 OPS against them including a game at Target Field a year ago in which he hit three balls out off the yard.
#Yankees & @CC_Sabathia head to Minnesota to start a series with the Twins. https://t.co/lv9sMMR7TA #LetsGoYankees pic.twitter.com/xJ1Bj6logk
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) June 16, 2016
#MNTwins open up a 4-game series vs. the Yankees tonight at Target Field. https://t.co/ik2QCgzpK9 pic.twitter.com/88nHsaDQg5
— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) June 16, 2016
Bold Prediction:
Sabathia gets his 14-innings scoreless streak snapped, but still records his fifth win of the year as A-Rod delivers a late home run to help the Yankees snap their dreary losing streak.
