New York Yankees: Preview of the weekend Miami Marlins series

New York Yankees, Jameson Taillon

The New York Yankees start a three-game weekend series with Derek Jeter’s Miami Marlins tonight at LoanDepot Park, a retractable roof stadium located in little Havana just two miles west of downtown Miami. It is the smallest MLB park by capacity. The Yankees have great ties with the Marlins, its manager is the former Yankee star Don Mattingly, and Derek Jeter is the team’s Chief Executive officer.

The Marlins this season sit at the bottom of the National League East with a 44-58 record and coming off losing 6 of their last ten games. The New York Yankees are in third place in the AL East 8.5 games behind the division-leading Boston Red Sox. However, they are 6-4 in their last ten games.

The Yankees will have a new look tonight with acquisition Joey Gallo somewhere in the middle of the lineup. It is not known if Anthony Rizzo will be available for tonight’s game. They will also have reinforcements in the bullpen with new pitcher Clay Holmes who made his scoreless relief debut last night for the Yankees. Joining him in the bullpen will be Joely Rodríguez, who came to the Yankees in the Gallo trade. J-Rod is a lefty that is 1-3 with an ERA of 5.93 with the Rangers in 31 games.

Tonight, July 30, 7:10 pm:

Jameson Taillon will take the mound tonight in Miami, facing right Zach Thompson. Taillon, all season long, has been one of the Yankee’s least dependable pitchers but has improved recently. Taillon is 6-4 with an ERA of 4.36 and 93 strikeouts. He is coming off one of his best wins of the season against the Boston Red Sox in a Yankee 4-3 win. He has won the last two of his starts. Jesus Aguilar has given Taillon the most trouble hitting .357 against him with 2 home runs in 14 at-bats.

Taillon will face Zach Thompson, a righty with a 2-3 record with an ERA of 2.45 in 8 starts this season. The Marlins have lost his last three starts. No Yankee has ever seen Thompson pitch except in videos.

As of this writing, the Marlins have not announced their starters for the last two games of the weekend series. Tonight’s game will be televised in the New York area on WPIX and its affiliates. In Miami on Bally Sports Florida.

Saturday, July 31, 6:10 pm:

Game two of the series on Saturday night will feature Domingo German on the mound for the Yankees against a yet to be announced Marlins pitcher. German has been a mixed bag for the Yankees this season. After bombing out in his first start, he was sent down to Scranton to figure it out. Upon his return, the Yankees won his next six starts. Most recently, he has not gone deep into games and has struggled. He pitched seven innings losing to the Boston Red Sox in his last outing, only giving up 1 run and striking out a season-high 10 Boston players. Which German shows up for game two is anyone’s guess. Watch in the YES Network and Bally Sports Florida.

Sunday, August 1, 1:10 pm:
The final game of the series, a Sunday Matinee, will be started by Jordan Montgomery, a lefty that is 4-5 with an ERA of 3.78 and 100 strikeouts. Montgomery has been one of the Yankee’s best pitchers this season but has gotten nearly no run support in his starts. The Yankees have lost 5 of his last 6 starts but only scored 12 runs across those starts. He is coming off a five-inning 102 pitch scoreless outing against the Tampa Bay Rays. Sunday’s matinee is on the YES Network and Bally Sports Florida.