Yankees at Angels
CC Sabathia is six strikeouts away from becoming the 17th pitcher in baseball history to record 3,000 as he takes the mound for the New York Yankees against the host Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday in the third contest of their four-game series. Sabathia is looking to join Randy Johnson (4,875) and Steve Carlton (4,136) as the only left-handers to reach the historic milestone.
Sabathia is more interested in posting win No. 248 and staying off the injured list than recording the milestone strikeout. "It's cool, especially that short list of lefties," Sabathia told reporters. "To join that list would be cool, but it’s something that I can’t really think about now. I’m focusing on making sure that I stay healthy enough to help the team win. I’m glad that I’ll be able to get this out of the way kind of early." Luke Voit slugged two homers and Mike Ford hit his first major-league blast on Tuesday as New York posted a 7-5 victory to extend its season-best winning streak to five games with its seventh triumph in eight contests. The Angels have dropped eight of their last nine games, allowing at least five runs eight times in that span.
TV: 10:07 p.m. ET, MLB Network, YES (New York), FS West (Los Angeles)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Yankees LH CC Sabathia (1-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. Angels RH Felix Pena (0-1, 4.15)
Sabathia worked five innings in each of his first two starts, allowing one unearned run and four hits. The 38-year-old is 10-9 with a 3.22 ERA in 22 career starts against the Angels, including a 5-5 record and 3.39 ERA in 13 career outings at Anaheim. Sabathia has experienced difficulties with Mike Trout (5-for-16, two homers, two doubles) while controlling Albert Pujols (5-for-23, one homer).
Pena pitched a season-high five innings in his last turn, when he gave up three runs and two hits (both homers) in a no-decision against Seattle. The 29-year-old has served up four homers in just 17 1/3 frames this season and has allowed 25 over 153 1/3 innings in 59 career appearances (21 starts). Pena pitched 3 2/3 innings of relief against the Yankees on May 6, 2017 as a member of the Chicago Cubs and allowed three runs - two earned - and five hits.
WALK-OFFS
1. Angels 3B Zack Cozart (neck) avoided a trip to the injured list after being hurt in the series opener and he grounded out to third to end Tuesday's game.
2. New York CF Brett Gardner recorded four hits on Tuesday and is 8-for-16 over his last four contests.
3. Los Angeles recalled LHP Sam Freeman and RHP Justin Anderson from Triple-A Salt Lake, optioned RHPs Luke Bard and Taylor Cole to the Bees and moved OF Justin Upton (toe) to the 60-day injured list to open a spot on the 40-man roster for Freeman.