Last night in Philidelphia the New York Yankees lost their title as the number one team in baseball, to the Minnesota Twins. Tonight the Yankees will look to win their third series in a row and possibly regain that title. Previous to this series the Yankees won series with the World Champion Washington Nationals, swept the Baltimore Orioles, and the Boston Red Sox. They have now played 1/6 of the shortened season.
Tonight the weather may become an issue. The game should start out okay with cloudy skies, but as the game progresses there will be scattered thunderstorms in the area. The game-time (6:05 pm) temperature will be in the high ’70s. The game will be broadcast on the YES Network and in Philadelphia on NBCSP.
The New York Yankees will face the Phillies right-hander Zack Eflin, he is normally the Phillies fourth starter, but due to all the postponements, this will be his first start of the season. Eflin a 26-year-old tall pitcher, has spent his entire four-year career with the Phillies. Last year he went 10-13 with an ERA of 4.13 over 28 starts, with an average of four-strikeouts per game.
Eflin, In 2019 primarily relied on his Fourseam Fastball (94mph), Slider (87mph), and Sinker (94mph), also mixing in a Change (87mph) and Curve (78mph). He gets most of his strikeouts on his fastball.Â
The Yankees will rely on their number five starter, Jordan Montgomery to bring home a win for the Yankees. This will be his second start of the season. In his first game against the Baltimore Orioles, he didn’t have his best stuff but still won the game with 81 pitches over five and two-thirds innings, allowing just one run. It was “Montys” first win since recovering from Tommy John surgery in 2018.
The Yankees have a lot of faith in the 27-year-old lefty especially after his 1.59 ERA game in Baltimore. He has built arm strength, and if he pitches well tonight, they will likely let him go 90 or more pitches.
Tonight the Yankees will leave Philadelphia and fly to Tampa Florida, for a four-game series with the Tampa Bay Rays. The series will feature another day-night doubleheader on Saturday. The flight tonight will be the Yankee’s first air flight of the season.