New York Yankees @ Cleveland Indians, 7/3/17: Lineups & Preview
It’s time for Sonny Gray‘s highly-anticipated New York Yankees debut, which will come against the Cleveland Indians at Progressive Field on Thursday.
[dropcap]A[/dropcap]fter the rain put a damper on the New York Yankees winning ways, it’s time they turn to the newly-acquired Sonny Gray as they face the reigning American League Champions, the Cleveland Indians.[sc name=”Yankees Link Related” link=”https://elitesportsny.com/2017/08/03/are-the-new-york-yankees-lowkey-aiming-for-shohei-otani/” text=”Are The New York Yankees Lowkey Aiming For Otani?” ]
Gray, who was traded to New York on July 31, is 6-5 this season with a 3.43 ERA in 16 starts. The 27-year-old has been lights-out in July, posting a .187/.245/.275 opponent’s slash line and a 1.48 ERA — baseball’s seventh-best among starters with at least 20 innings pitched this month.
The newest Yankee will face a tall-task on Thursday night, as Corey Kluber is set to make his sixth career start and appearance against the Yankees. In his five previous starts, the 31-year-old has gone 3-1 with a 1.91 ERA.
New York is also getting him in his natural habitat, where he has thrived. In 10 starts this season at Progressive Field, Kluber is 6-1 with a 2.38 ERA — the second-lowest home average in the AL.
[sc name=”Yankees Center” ]Lineups:
Tribe Yankee lineup for Thursday night. pic.twitter.com/MGhEBj3Zet
— paul hoynes (@hoynsie) August 3, 2017
Match-Up To Watch: Kluber vs Gardner
In his career against tonight’s Indians’ starter, Yankees’ left fielder Brett Gardner owns a .364/.417/.636 slash line with a home run and three RBI’s. Kluber, however, has registered 69 strikeouts out of the 205 lefties faced this season (34 percent), making this a power-on-power matchup to keep an eye on.
Jet Stream:
After going 1-for-4 in Tuesday’s loss to the Detroit Tigers, Gardner extended his hitting streak 14 games (since 7/18). That’s the longest of his career and the longest active streak in the Majors. In 60 at-bats during the streak, he has recorded 19 hits (.317).
This Day In Yankees History:
On Aug. 3, 1959, Hall-Of-Fame catcher Yogi Berra connected for his first and only All-Star Game home run in the second All-Star
game of the 1959 season. It helped drive the American League to a 5-3 win at Los Angeles’ Memorial Coliseum.
[sc name=”Yankees Links” ]
How To Watch:
- Time: 7:10 p.m. ET
- Channel: YES Network, SportsTime Ohio
- Radio: WFAN 660/101.9 FM
- Venue: Progressive Field, Cleveland, OH
Christian Kouroupakis covers the New York Yankees and is the Editorial Director for ESNY. Interact with him and view his daily work by “liking” his facebook page and follow him on Twitter. All statistics are courtesy of Baseball Reference.com unless otherwise noted. Don’t hesitate to shoot him an email with any questions, criticisms, or concerns.
