The New York Yankees will send CC Sabathia to the hill in hopes to kick off a six-game road trip on the right foot.
The New York Yankees (10-5), coming off an 8-1 homestand at Yankee Stadium, are looking to continue their success as they hit the road to play the Pittsburgh Pirates (6-9) at PNC Park.
CC Sabathia, who’s one of just 13 starters in major league baseball to won an ERA under 1.50 so far this season, is looking to continue his well-established resurgence in his fourth start of the season.
His 1.47 ERA marks his lowest through the first three starts of a season since he posted a 1.45 ERA back in 2011. Since 1967, Sabathia is one of three pitchers to start at least one game for the Yankees in nine-or-more consecutive seasons joining Ron Guidry, (1977-88) and Andy Pettitte (1995-2003).
Last time out, the southpaw held the St.Louis Cardinals to one run on three hits and struck out six for his 225th career win. Sabathia has started three games at PNC Field and has walked away with two winning decisions while surrendering just three runs in 22 innings of work (1.23 ERA).
23-year-old Tyler Glasnow, coming off two porous starts against the Cincinnati Reds (5 ER in 1.2 IP) and the Chicago Cubs (4 ER in 5 IP), is looking to build off the only bright spot of his first couple of starts — seven strikeouts against the Cubs.
Lineups:
#Yankees lineup:
Gardner LF
Headley 3B
Castro 2B
Ellsbury CF
Judge RF
Bird 1B
Romine C
Torreyes SS
Sabathia LHP— Christian Kouroupakis (@ckouroupakis) April 21, 2017
Your Bucs are back home tonight!
Here's the lineup.? @ROOTSPORTSPIT
? @937theFan & the PRN pic.twitter.com/MZSQZCfqQr— Pirates (@Pirates) April 21, 2017
It’s Been A While:
The last time the Yankees squared off against the Pirates in Pittsburgh (July 10, 2008), Derek Jeter batted leadoff, Jose Bautista batted eighth and played third base for the Pirates, Mike Mussina got the start for New York, Sabathia was making a postseason run with the Milwaukee Brewers and Glasnow was 14 years old.
In 2014, the Bucs came to Yankee Stadium on May 17-18 (featuring a double header on the 18th) and dropped two out of three in their first ever trip to Yankee Stadium.
Players To Watch:
Matt Holliday
In 77 career games at PNC Park, the 37-year-old owns a .301/.353/.472 slash line with 12 home runs and 47 RBIs. In an NL park, at-bats will be tough to come buy for Holliday but, nevertheless, he should see some time whether it’s at first, left or off the bench as a pinch hitter.
Starlin Castro:
Castro, who spent six years in the NL Central as a member of the Cubs, owns a .310/.352/.471 slash line with 11 home runs in 94 career games against the Pirates including an OPS+ of 106 at PNC.
Central Intelligence:
New York has won seven straight series against National League Central clubs dating back to May 28, 2014. Throughout this streak, the Yankees are 25-9 and are 48-22 in 70 games all-time. At home, they are 32-6 and 16-16 sporting their road gray uniforms.
This Day In New York Yankees History:
On April 21, 1914, Alex Burr made his only Major League appearance as a defensive replacement for the New York Highlanders as they played the Washington Senators at the Polo Grounds.
Burr, was the only Yankee to be killed in military service, perishing in an air training accident on Oct. 12, 1918, in Cazaux, France at age 24.
