The New York Yankees have won 9 games in a row fighting some difficult teams like the White Sox, Red Sox, and to a lesser degree, the Minnesota Twins. However, for the Yankees, there won’t be any letup as they face a difficult 10-day road trip. First, today they will start a short two-game series in Atlanta against two outstanding Braves pitchers. Then they will move on to the west coast to face both the Oakland Athletics and the Los Angeles Angels before returning to the Stadium to play the Baltimore Orioles.
The Yankees have now fallen back to 4.5 games out of first place in the AL East due to not playing yesterday because of hurricane Henri. However, the Rays did play, and they shut out the White Sox, causing the half-game drop back in the standings. Now today, the Yankees will have a big test against the Atlanta Braves. The Braves have a comfortable lead in the NL East, going 9-1 in their last ten games, matching the Yankees winning record for the span. However, the Braves have the edge in this series as the Yankees will face two pitchers with winning records.
Tonight, August 23, 7:20 pm:
Tonight New York Yankees fans will see Jordan Montgomery face the Brave’s Huascar Ynoa at Truist Park in Atlanta. The lefty Montgomery is 4-5 with an ERA of 3.77. The Yankees have won many more games that were pitched by “Monty” than the record shows; he has gotten none to very little run support in his games. The Yankees have won 14 of his starts. Montgomery is coming off three straight Yankees wins against the Rays, Marlins, and Red Sox. No Braves player has ever hit a home run off Jordan.
Montgomery will face Huascar Ynoa, a righty with a 4-2 record and a low ERA of 2.40. Until last week, Ynoa hadn’t pitched since May 16th, when he exited a game with a fractured right hand that kept him on the shelf for 3 months. He returned to play on August 17th, a game he won against the Miami Marlins, not giving up a run in 5.1 innings of work. Few Yankees have seen Ynoa pitch, but DJ LeMahieu and Anthony Rizzo have both hit well off him. Gary Sanchez faced him once, getting homer off the righty. Tonight’s game will be televised on the YES Network, Bally Sports South, and MLBN out of market.
Tuesday, August 24, 7:20 pm: Â
Tuesday night Andrew Heaney will face Yankee killer Charlie Morton. Heaney is a lefty that is 8-8 with an elevated 5.51 ERA. Since coming to the Yankees from the Angels, Heany had not pitched well, although he had his best outing on August 18th when he gave up just one run in 7 innings of work against the Boston Red Sox. In his previous game, he gave up seven runs in just five innings against the White Sox. If he has a benefit in this game, it’s that few Braves have seen him pitch.
Heaney will have his hands full trying to outlast the Braves, Charlie Morton. Morton, in his career, has been a Yankee killer for both the Houston Astros and the Tampa Bay Rays. With the Braves, he is 12-4 with an ERA of 3.47 and 164 strikeouts this season. He is coming off two straight wins against the Washington Nationals and the Miami Marlins, giving up two runs per game. DJ LeMahieu and Brett Gardner have been relatively successful off him. Aaron Judge has a .067 batting average against him 15 at-bats. That one hit was a home run.
The Yankees faced Morton on April 20 in a game they won, although Morton only gave up one run. His bullpen failed him. The game will be televised on the YES Network, Bally Sports South, and MLBN out of market.
When the New York Yankees finish this short series, they will fly out west to face the Oakland Athletics and the Los Angeles Angels. The first two night games will be at 9:40 pm EDT at Oakland Coliseum.