After a couple of series wins at home in the Bronx, the Yankees are heading west to start a six-game road trip. Their first stop? That’d be in Oakland against the Athletics.
This is actually the start of an opportunity for the Yankees to build some momentum, even with Aaron Judge still sidelined:
Four of the Yankees next eight opponents are last place teams. Six of the eight are below .500. None of them are in first place
Athletics
Cardinals
Orioles
Cubs
Rockies
Angels
Royals
MetsThe end of this 24-game stretch is July 26th
— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) June 26, 2023
Here are the probable pitching matchups for New York’s three-game set by the Bay.
Tuesday at 9:40 p.m. ET: Jhony Brito vs. Paul Blackburn
Jhony Brito made his first big-league start for the Yankees in a month on June 21st against the Mariners. He pitched so well that it earned him another turn through the rotation. Brito allowed just two hits and one walk on three strikeouts in 5.2 shutout innings. In his first career start against Oakland earlier this year, he allowed two runs on two hits, three walks, and two strikeouts in 4.2 frames.
This will be Paul Blackburn’s sixth start of the season. He’s posted a 4.21 ERA and 1.48 WHIP with 30 strikeouts through his first five (25.2 innings). Blackburn has had two separate five-inning starts against the Yankees in his career. He held them scoreless in 2021 and surrendered three runs on five hits, two walks, and seven strikeouts last year.
Wednesday at 9:40 p.m. ET: Domingo German vs. JP Sears
Domingo German is looking for a rebound performance after two straight horrific outings. The right-hander has allowed a whopping 15 earned runs in his last two starts (5.1 innings). German has a 4.94 career ERA against Oakland but twirled 7.2 shutout innings against them in his only appearance last year.
JP Sears has been on a nice run recently for the Athletics. He’s gone at least six innings three times in his last five starts, including consecutive seven-inning efforts in each of his last two turns through the rotation. He’s also allowed two or fewer runs in four of his last five appearances. The Yankees did touch him up for five runs on six hits (three homers) in 5.1 innings earlier this season.
Thursday at 3:37 p.m. ET: Clarke Schmidt vs. TBD
Clarke Schmidt is…rolling? He allowed just one run (not earned) in 5.1 innings during his last start against Texas. It’s taken him about five weeks, but his ERA has gone down from 6.30 on May 14th to where it’s currently, which is 4.32. Schmidt allowed two runs on five hits, two walks, and seven strikeouts in six innings earlier this year against the Athletics.
As of this writing, Oakland hasn’t officially announced a starting pitcher for the finale. Once an official announcement is made, we’ll update things here.
You can reach Matt Musico at matt.musico@xlmedia.com. You can follow him on Twitter: @mmusico8.
