Tonight the New York Yankees start a 4 game series with the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Park in Arlington, Texas. Globe Life is a brand new baseball park that is in its second year of use. It’s a retractable dome Stadium, so weather like the recent 100-degree temperatures and the flash flood warning, when as much as five inches of rain may fall, won’t be an issue for the game.
Over these teams’ history, the Yankees have been victorious over the Rangers, 400-284 in their matchups. But the Texas Rangers are a much better team today than in the early years of the team. The last season the two teams met up was for six games in 2019. The two teams split the six games they played. This season the Yankees have two former Ranger players on the team. Corey Kluber, who only pitched one inning for the Rangers. And Rougned Odor, our backup second baseman.
Before tonight’s game, the New York Yankees are 22-18 for third place in the AL East. They are also coming off seven series wins in a row. The Rangers are last in the AL West with a record of 18-24. They have won 3 of their last ten games.
Tonight, May 17th, 8:05 pm:
Tonight the Yankee ace Gerrit Cole will take the mound for the Yankees in game one of the series. Cole has been lights out, and the Yankees can usually count on a win when he is on the mound. Cole is 5-1 with an ERA of 1.37 in 8 starts with an amazing 78 strikeouts. He is coming off his best game of the season when he was totally dominant, going eight scoreless innings while striking out 12 Tampa Bay batters.
Cole will face the Rangers Jordan Lyles, who is 1-3 with an ERA of 6.63 with half the number of strikeouts. Most of the elevated ERA is due to a slow start of the season for Lyles. He has pitched better recently. In his most recent start, he went 5 innings against the San Franciso Giants, giving up two runs in the Ranger’s loss. He has had command problems and walks too many batters. The Yankees should be aware of this and be patient at the plate. Tonight’s game will be on the YES Network and Bally Sports SW.
Tuesday, May 18, 8:05 pm:
Tuesday’s second game will feature Jameson Taillon against Mike Foltynewicz. Taillon is 1-3 with an ERA of 5.40 and will be going for his second win of the season. Taillon has faced the Rangers only once in his career. In May of 2019, he picked up the victory for the Pittsburgh Pirates, giving up 3 earned runs in 6 1/3rd innings of work. Taillon’s best game was on May 1, with he gave up just one run in the Yankee 6-4 victory over the Detroit Tigers. His last outing was not as good as he gave up 4 runs in only 4 1/3rd innings in the Yankee loss to the Rays.
Foltynewicz is 1-3 with an ERA of 4.60. He was an All-star in 2019 but is not pitching to that form yet this season. In his last outing against the Houston Astros, he did not allow a home run for the second time this season; however, he did not get the decision in the game. This is his ninth start of the season. Home runs have been a problem for him, giving up eight so far. He has not gotten a decision in his last three starts. Tuesday’s game will be televised on the YES Network, Bally Sports SW, and ESPN, out of market.
Wednesday, May 19th, 8:05 pm:
Wednesday, the New York Yankees will start Corey Kluber. Kluber is 3-2 with an ERA of 3.48 on the season. Kluber is heating up after a relatively slow start of the season. He has a 2-0 record for May with a 2.75 ERA. In his last start against the Orioles, he went six innings, giving up 4 runs, but pitched better than the stats would suggest. The Yankees have won his last four starts in a row. The Texas Rangers have not announced a starter for the game. Game three will be televised on the YES Network and Bally Sports SW.
Thursday, May 20th, 2:05 pm:
For Thursday’s matinee, Domingo German will take the mound for the Yankees. German is 3-1 with an ERA of 3.62 with 37 strikeouts. At the beginning of the season, one poor start elevated his season ERA; he is 2.37 since then. In his last outing, he pitched six innings of one-run ball. Four of his five starts have been quality. German seems to be regaining his 2019 form when he went 18-4.
German will face Dane Dunning, who is 2-3 with an ERA of 4.34 across 8 outings. He is coming off a poor start against the Houston Astros, where he allowed four runs in just the first inning of the game. Dunning has had problems in the first inning of some of his games, and the Yankees will want to take advantage of that. This will be his 9th start of the season. This final game will be televised on the YES Network, Bally Sports SW, and MLBN.com out of market.