Rangers at Yankees
The New York Yankees continue to bash their way to victories, even when down to their final outs. The Yankees will try to keep the momentum going as they enter the final stretch of the regular season by hosting the Texas Rangers on Monday in the opener of a three-game series.
New York is running away with the American League East and the lone battle left is against Houston to see which team will own the No. 1 spot in the AL playoffs, but making sure the team is firing on all cylinders over the final four weeks of the regular season will be the focus. The Yankees proved they are not losing any focus despite the big lead in the East when they won with a walk-off homer in the 11th inning on Saturday and followed up by overcoming a 4-0 deficit with three runs in the eighth on Sunday before a pair of solo blasts in the ninth gave them a second consecutive walk-off triumph over the Oakland Athletics. The Rangers sit four games below .500 and out of the race in the AL but will get plenty of chances to play a role in how the postseason shakes out with 20 of its final 24 games against teams still in the race. Texas will begin that stretch with All-Star Mike Minor on the mound while New York counters with right-hander Masahiro Tanaka.
TV: 1:05 p.m. ET, ESPN, FS Southwest (Texas), YES (New York)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Rangers LH Mike Minor (11-8, 3.25 ERA) vs. Yankees RH Masahiro Tanaka (10-7, 4.47)
Minor is slumping of late and is winless in his last three starts, watching his ERA drift up from 2.90 to 3.25 in that span. The 31-year-old made his last two starts against the Los Angeles Angels and was reached for a total of 11 runs - 10 earned - on 14 hits and five walks in 12 1/3 innings. Minor is seeing the Yankees for the first time since Aug. 10, 2018, when he earned a win despite allowing four runs and six hits in 5 2/3 innings.
Tanaka breezed through seven scoreless innings at Seattle on Tuesday, scattering three hits and walking one while striking out seven. The Japan native surrendered two or fewer runs in three or his last four outings and completed at least six innings in each of those four turns. Tanaka faced Texas twice in 2018 and went 1-1 while allowing a total of 10 runs on nine hits - five home runs - and seven walks in 10 innings.
WALK-OFFS
1. After slugging a record 74 home runs in August, the Yankees hit a pair on Sunday to begin September.
2. Texas RHP Edinson Volquez (elbow) made his first appearance since April 4 on Sunday and struck out one in a hitless inning of relief.
3. Yankees INF DJ LeMahieu is 12-for-29 with three homers and eight runs scored during a seven-game hitting streak.