Following two walk-off wins to split a series with the Texas Rangers, the New York Yankees will look to ride momentum on the opposite coast.

  • New York Yankees (39-39)
  • San Diego Padres (33-46)
  • Interleague, 10:40 pm ET, YES Network
  • Petco Park, San Diego, CA
A road trip leading into the all-star break which will increase in difficulty per city begins tonight. The New York Yankees, coming off two important walk-off wins to stay afloat, will look to pounce on the easiest slated opponent on this 10-game, three city swing to kick off the month of July.

That team is the San Diego Padres, who sit 13 games below .500, 16 games off the NL West pace, rank 25th in baseball in batting average and ERA, and were just swept by the Baltimore Orioles in an abbreviated two-game home set.

However, as the Yanks have shown throughout 2016, no opponent is a sure thing. Joe Girardi’s team still has yet to prove that they are ready to surge over the .500 mark into legitimate contention.

RELATED: Yankees June Report Card

Currently three games out of the second AL Wild Card spot, a 7-3 mark in these final 10 games before the break would ensure near possession of the spot while proving their place as an American League presence.

With that said, it will not come easy with the final four games in Cleveland against an Indians team that is currently the hottest club in all of baseball.

Two or three wins in San Diego will create some ease.

Pitching Matchup

Nathan Eovaldi (6-5, 5.19 ERA) will take the ball for New York opposing Colin Rea (4-3, 5.05 ERA).

After a superb month of May in which he went 5-0 with a 3.25 ERA, the Yankee right-hander was downright bad in June. The 26-year-old flame-thrower did not win a game in five starts while pitching to a miserable 8.65 ERA. In addition, he surrendered a brutal 10 home runs in those five appearances, demolishing his mark (4) from the month prior.

Opposing Eovaldi will be Colin Rea, who will toe the rubber for the Padres on his 26th birthday. Much like the rest of the staff, the right-hander has not had his way thus far in 2016. However, he has been marginally better in his last two starts against Washington and Cincinnati, pitching to a 3.18 ERA.

https://twitter.com/Yankees/status/749022318500974592

Lineups

Bold Prediction

Nathan Eovaldi fires eight shutout innings to get back on track and Jacoby Ellsbury goes 4-5 with an two-run triple as the Yankees top the Padres, 4-0.

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