Indians at Yankees
After beating up on the bottom two teams in the American League East for the last 10 days, the New York Yankees begin a stretch against three playoff contenders with the first of four games against the visiting Cleveland Indians on Thursday night. The Yankees finished off a four-game sweep of Baltimore with a 6-5 victory on Wednesday for a fifth straight victory and 14th in their last 16 contests.
Gary Sanchez homered in Wednesday’s win and went 5-for-7 with four RBIs over the last two games for New York while teammate and former Indian Gio Urshela (.335 batting average) extended his on-base streak to 20 games with a single. The AL East-leading Yankees are expected to go with an opener Thursday and the AL wild card-leading Indians will hand the ball to right-hander Adam Plutko, who won his first career meeting with New York in June. Cleveland had won nine of 11 games to take over first place in the AL Central before dropping the last two against Boston, including Wednesday’s 5-1 setback while managing just four hits. Carlos Santana, who is 9-for-22 in his last six contests, saw his three-game homer streak come to an end in the loss but the Indians will get slugging outfielder Yasiel Puig back in the lineup after he served a three-game suspension for his involvement in a brawl late last month when he was with Cincinnati.
TV: 7:05 p.m. ET, STO (Cleveland), YES (New York)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Indians RH Adam Plutko (4-3, 4.68 ERA) vs. Yankees TBD
Plutko suffered the loss last Saturday when he allowed four runs on nine hits and a walk with three strikeouts over six innings at Minnesota. The 27-year-old UCLA product picked up the win against New York on June 8 at home, permitting two runs on three hits with four strikeouts across six innings, and he will pitch at Yankee Stadium for the first time. DJ LeMahieu is 2-for-3 versus Plutko, who is 1-1 with a 5.47 ERA in five road outings (four starts) this year.
The Yankees did not immediately announce the starter after Wednesday’s win, but right-hander Chad Green is the likely choice to pitch the first inning or two. Green (2-3, 4.69 ERA overall) has been the opener 11 times this season, giving up three runs on 10 hits over 15 innings with 23 strikeouts and five walks in the role. Right-hander Jonathan Loaisiga, who has been out since early May with a shoulder injury, could be a candidate to get some innings.
WALK-OFFS
1. The Indians recalled LHP Logan Allen from Triple-A Columbus on Wednesday and he pitched 2 1/3 scoreless innings.
2. The Yankees acquired RHP Ryan Dull on waivers from San Francisco on Wednesday and designated RHP Brady Lail for assignment.
3. Cleveland manager Terry Francona needs one win to break the tie with Tris Speaker (617) for third on the franchise’s all-time list.