The New York Yankees start a three-game series with the Cleveland Indians tonight at Yankee Stadium. The Yankees, with a loss to the Orioles last night, have fallen out of a wild card berth; every game is so crucial to the Yankees while Cleveland’s postseason hopes have been dashed.
The Indians started their road trip by taking two out of three from the Twins but have lost seven of their last ten games. But that doesn’t mean the Yankees will have an easy time of it with the Indians. Jose Ramirez leads the Indians with 33 homers, and this season has gone 5 for 13 against the Yankees. Still, the Yankees lead their season play against the Indians, winning 3 of 4 games back in April.
Unfortunately for the Yankees, they are not playing as they did during their 13 game winning streak. The Yankees are 4-6 in their last ten games and are coming off a loss to the lowly Baltimore Orioles. For Giancarlo Stanton’s part, he is an Indians killer with a .308 average off of them. This series will be the second time that the Indians will face their ex-two-time Cy Young winner Kluber. In their matchup in April, Kluber struck out 11 Indians in his win. Luckily for the Yankees, they will not be facing Shane Bieber, who is out with a bad shoulder.
Tonight, September 17, 7:05 pm EDT
In the first game, the Indians will have to face their old Cy Young award winner Corey Kluber. Kluber was with the Indians for nine years, racking up a record of 98-58 and an ERA of 3.06. This will be Kluber’s fourth start since coming off the IL for a strained shoulder. Unfortunately for the Yankees, in his first three starts, he gave up 11 earned runs. However, he does have the Yankee’s only no-hitter this season. He is 4-3 with an ERA of 4.02 and 72 strikeouts.
Kluber will be facing the Indian’s Zach Plesac, who is 10-5 with an ERA of 4.45 and 88 strikeouts. The Yankees did not face Plesac when they faced them in April. He is coming off a loss to the Milwaukee Brewers when he gave up three runs over six innings. Both DJ LeMahieu and Gary Sanchez have batting averages of .333 against him in the past.
Saturday, September 18, 1:05 pm EDT
In the Saturday matinee, the Indians will face pitching sensation Luis Gil, a righty with a 1-0 record, an ERA of 2.88, and 32 strikeouts in 5 games. In his first three starts in August, he didn’t give up an earned run. But there have been a few cracks in the armor in his last two starts giving up eight runs over the two games. He is coming off a win against the Twins in his previous outing. However, none of the Indians have seen him pitch.
Gil will ace Aaron Civale, a righty that is 10-4 with an ERA of 3.76 and 85 strikeouts in 17 starts. He is coming off two losses in a row, one to Milwaukee and one against Minnesota. He also lost his game with the Yankees back in April when he gave up three runs. Aaron Judge and Gleyber Torres have Civale’s number hitting .400 and .333 off of him, respectively. But don’t sell Kye Higashioka short; he has one hit off of him in 2 at-bats.
Sunday, September 19, 1:05 pm EDT
The New York Yankee ace Gerrit Cole will take the mound in the matinee game on Sunday. Cole is 15-7 with an ERA of 2.75 and 224 strikeouts, the 3rd most in baseball, but with two fewer games pitched than the two leaders. He is coming off his 15th win of the season against the Orioles when he gave up one run in five innings of work. None of the Indians have hit well off of Cole. Jose Ramirez, in 10 at-bats, has a .200 average. Cole won his first outing over the Indians, going seven innings of 3 hit ball.
Cole will face the Indians’ Eli Morgan, a righty that is 2-7 with an elevated 6.03 ERA with 70 strikeouts. Morgan has lost his last two starts against the Brewers and Red Sox, giving up eight runs. Not a single Yankee player has seen him pitch, except in videos.
Notes: Tonight’s game will be on WPIX and its affiliates in the New York area and Bally Sports Great Lakes. Saturday will be on the YES Network in addition to Bally Sports Great Lakes and MLBN out of market. Sunday will be on the YES Network and Bally.
After this three-game series with the Indians, the Yankees will host the Minnesota Twins for a three-game series at Yankee Stadium before going on their last road trip of the season with the Red Sox at Fenway and the Blue Jays at Rogers Center.