For the New York Yankees, this could be a make or break week, after a prolonged slide with the Phillies and this past weekend with the Tampa Bay Rays. Any prolonged slump could end the hopes of any team winning their division in a shortened coronavirus season. The Yankees this week will look to turn the fortunes of the team. The Yankees started out looking like a World Championship team going 8-1. But in the past week, they have gone 2-4, sliding from number one to just an average team.
If the New York Yankees don’t do well this week, they will have a rough time catching up to teams like the Minnesota Twins and the Los Angeles Dodgers among four other teams. In just one week they have gone from number one in baseball to number seven, although they still are the best in the AL East. But under the new MLB divisions, the Yankees are now behind the lowly Miami Marlins who have gone 7-3 in their last ten games as the Yankees have slid.
Starting today the Yankees will face the Atlanta Braves in a two-game set. On the face of it, it looks as though the Yankees have the edge in this series. The Atlanta Braves has a history with the Yankees that they would like to forget. They lost the 1996 World Series four games to two. They lost the 1999 World Series when the Yankee swept them. Since 2015, the Braves have only faced the Yankee six times. They won only one of those games, and it was in the eleventh inning.
Tonight at 7:05 pm the New York Yankees will face Touki Toussaint. The Yankees will send out Jordan Montgomery. On the face, both pitchers look evenly matched as both have an ERA hovering around the 6.00 mark. Weather should not be a factor tonight as the game will be played under partly cloudy skies, with a game-time temperature at about 80. The game will be broadcast on the YES Network and in Atlanta on FoxSports South.
Jordan Montgomery will start out the night on the mound for the Yankees. “Monty” is 1-1 with an ERA of 5.59. He pitched brilliantly in his first outing against the Orioles when he went 5.2 innings only giving up a run. But in his last outing against the Phillies, he didn’t fare as well, giving up five runs in just four innings. Monty tonight will have to control his changeup and refind his curveball to be successful.
The Yankees will face Touki Toussaint who has gone in the opposite direction, in his first outing against the Tampa Bay Rays he went only 2.2 innings giving up six runs. On August first, he went four innings in a no-decision outing. However, in his last start against the Toronto Blue Jays on August 6, he pitched 6.2 innings while striking out nine Jays. However, for Touki it was another no-decision game. For Touki it was his career-best start. Last season he went 15-9 for the Braves. No Yankee has ever faced Toussiant.
For the New York Yankees, they will go into this two-game series looking to sweep the Braves before another day off on Thursday. The Yankees will then have a four-game weekend series with the Boston Red Sox who they swept in a three-game series back In July. This will be a pivotal week for the Yankees. If they do well they will be back on track to win the division. If they play as poorly as in the last week, it will spell trouble for the Yankees in this short season.