After being shut down completely in game two of this four-game set, the New York Yankees send Masahiro Tanaka to the mound to play the role of ‘stopper.’

The New York Yankees enter tonight’s contest with the Texas Rangers heartbroken after Monday night’s loss and flat out embarrassed by Tuesday night’s 7-1 beatdown.

Masahiro Tanaka will take the mound for New York looking to build on decent outing against the Minnesota Twins in which he authorized three runs and seven hits over six innings. Since May 21, Tanaka has yield three earned runs or fewer in six of his seven starts.

This will be his second career outing against the Rangers. Last time he faced them, he surrendered four runs over six innings in a losing effort but the Yankees have won six of their last seven games at Yankee Stadium when Tanaka takes the hill

Opposing him will be Nick Martinez (1-1, 5.54) who has struggled away from home (Rangers: 1-6 in last his seven road starts). In his last start against the Boston Red Sox last Friday, he allowed four runs through six innings but would have picked up the win if it weren’t for a comeback win for the Sox.

Martinez owns a 1.46 ERA through 12.1 innings (two starts) at Yankee Stadium including a win but is still looking for just his second win of the year.

Players To Watch:

Adrian Beltre

In the first two games of this series, Beltre is 4-for-10 including a home run and five runs batted in. In the last seven days, the man who has finished in the Top-10 in MVP voting in two of the last three years is slashing .391/.417/.522 with an OPS of .938. In his career at Yankee Stadium, he owns 18 RBI in 32 games played featuring two hits in three at-bats vs Tanaka.

Didi Gregorius

Last time Didi faced Martinez, he cranked a home run off him during a 15-4 loss on May 23, 2015. In his career against the Rangers, Gregorius owns a .379/.400/.672 slash line with four home runs in 15 games played and has maintained a .333 batting average in the month of June.

Interesting Stat Of The Day:

The Yankees are 59-28 in their last 87 games after losing the first two games of a series.

Bold Prediction:

No, they aren’t the best team in the American League but they do have the advantage tonight. The Yankees play well at home (21-18) and so does their ace Tanaka (15-7. Tanaka will give the Yankees a quality start while Alex Rodriguez hits a home run during the middle innings of the contest. This time, rain won’t interfere with “No-Run DMC” as they demonstrate their dominance in a 4-2 New York win.

NEXT: Aaron Judge Making Enormous Case For Promotion

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