Rockies at Yankees
The New York Yankees are looking like they may just run away and hide in the American League East while the Colorado Rockies are plummeting out of contention in the National League. The two teams headed in opposite directions meet Sunday in Yankee Stadium, where New York aims to complete a three-game sweep.
After claiming the series opener 8-2, the Yankees took Saturday's matchup 11-5 to extend their winning streak to five straight games and improve to 14-0-1 over their last 15 series at home. Edwin Encarnacion had a pair of hits along with three RBIs for New York on Saturday and he has knocked in 14 runs over a span of eight contests as the Yankees have opened up a 10-game lead in the division. The Rockies are losers of six straight and 13 of 15 to sink farther back in the race for an NL wild card berth. German Marquez was rocked for a career-high 11 runs in just 2 2/3 innings his last time out against San Francisco and will face a stiff test in trying to bounce back Sunday for Colorado opposite New York lefty James Paxton.
TV: 1:05 p.m. ET, TBS, AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain (Colorado), YES (New York)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Rockies RH German Marquez (8-5, 5.12 ERA) vs. Yankees LH James Paxton (5-4, 3.94)
Despite his abbreviated start Monday against the Giants, Marquez pulled into Saturday's action leading the National League in innings pitched (130). His ERA since the start of June is 8.26, and he's allowed 59 hits - 10 home runs - in 44 2/3 innings during that stretch. The 24-year-old from Venezuela is 6-0 with a 3.01 ERA in 13 career interleague starts but has never faced the Yankees.
Paxton is 0-1 in July despite allowing just five runs across 18 innings over three starts. The 30-year-old has 21 strikeouts against four walks in that span, during which his team's vaunted offense has produced a total of seven runs. Ian Desmond and Chris Iannetta are a combined 1-for-25 with 12 strikeouts against Paxton, who has a 3.52 ERA in three previous meetings with the Rockies.
WALK-OFFS
1. Yankees INF D.J. LeMahieu went 3-for-4 on Saturday and is 11-for-31 during a seven-game hitting streak.
2. Rockies 3B Nolan Arenado slugged a three-run homer Saturday to extend his hitting streak to five games.
3. New York is 8-2 all time against Colorado at home.