The New York Yankees have lost two games in a row against the Boston Red Sox and one last night against the Toronto Blue Jays. Tonight, the Yankees will send out Gerrit Cole to face the Jays and right the ship, putting it on track to maintaining or improving the Yankee’s seeding in the playoffs, that they have already secured a postseason berth.
The Yankees, in this unusual coronavirus season, have had many ups and downs. Winning a bunch of games, then losing even more, before a ten games winning streak that secured their place in the playoffs. But, now the Yankees have lost two in a row, and need to regain momentum going into the final games of the year. There are only five games left in the season, two more the Blue Jays in Buffalo, and the last three games back at Yankee Stadium against Derek Jeter’s Miami Marlins.
Tonight’s weather will be very similar to last night; the 6:37 pm game time temperature will be in the upper ’60s with clear skies, no chance of rain, and quite a breezy wind. The game will be televised on the YES Network and SNET in Canada. The game will also be televised nationally on ESPN (out of market only).
Tonight Gerrit Cole will face Tanner Roark of the Blue Jays in an attempt to return the Yankees to their winning ways. Of course, he will need the Yankee lineup to wake up early and support him. Cole is 6-3 with an ERA of 3.00 and white 87 strikeouts in his ten starts for the Yankees. Cole got the 100th win of his career when he last faced the Blue Jays. He, over seven innings and 114 pitches allowed only one run while striking out nine Jays. The Yankees hope he can repeat that performance tonight.
In preparation for the postseason, the Yankees delayed Cole and Tanaka’s starts by one day to line them up for the Wild Card series, giving them an extra day’s rest before the playoffs on the 29th. With that change, Michael King took the mound last night in the Yankee’s loss, giving up five runs in 2.2 innings.
The New York Yankees will face Tanner Roark. Roark has not found his groove this season and will be looking to have the remaining two starts as wins hoping to make the case for a postseason appearance. Roark is 2-2 with an elevated ERA of 6.41. Roark’s primary handicap is that he gives up home runs. In his last meeting with the Yankees, he gave up 4 home runs while striking out only 4 Yankees, in the Yankee’s 13-2 win over the Blue Jays.
After tonight’s game, the Yankees will face the Blue Jays once more before traveling back to Yankee Stadium for the final three games of the season, against Derek Jeter’s Miami Marlins. The Yankees are already in the “bubble” in Buffalo, having to remain in their hotel except to travel to the game. They will remain in that “bubble” even back in New York and throughout the postseason, until their win of a 28th World Championship or their elimination.