Yankee Stadium will more than likely be sold out on Friday night as the Bronx Bombers (36-30) host the Detroit Tigers (34-32) at 7:05 p.m. ET. All eyes will be on Alex Rodriguez and his journey to 3,000 hits. He comes into tonight with 2,999.
Rodriguez had Yankee fans at the edge of their seats last night when he recorded two hits in the team's 9-4 win over the Miami Marlins. He walked in his final at-bat of the game and the drama will now spill over into the team's weekend series against the Tigers. The 39-year-old will face starter Justin Verlander (0-0, 3.60 ERA) in his first plate appearances of the night on Friday.
Rodriguez has stepped into the batter's box against Verlander a total of 41 times in his career. Check out the breakdown of his stats vs. the right-hander, provided by Ryan Hatch of NJ.com:
41 plate appearances; 10 hits (.294 average); 1 double; 4 home runs; 11 RBI; 6 walks; 6 strikeouts; and 1 HBP
The numbers are certainly on Rodriguez's side and he may have even more of an advantage tonight because Verlander is making only his second start of the 2015 season. The veteran is very familiar with the Yankees though, having gone 5-6 with a 3.75 ERA, 1.403 WHIP and 94 strikeouts in 16 starts (98 1/3 innings) throughout his 11-year career.
Verlander will square off against Adam Warren (4-4, 3.78 ERA) and hopes to help the Tigers avoid losing three straight. Warren has been solid in his first season as a starter for the Yankees and he'll have another tough test tonight against the high-powered Tigers' offense. His first outing against Detroit in April didn't go so well even though he earned a win after surrendering four earned runs on five hits and four walks in 5 2/3 innings.
New York won their last two games against the Miami Marlins, but before that they dropped five of six to relinquish sole possession of the AL East. They're now one game behind the first-place Tampa Bay Rays.
Detroit trails the Kansas City Royals by 5.5 games in the AL Central and remains two games behind the Minnesota Twins for the second wild-card spot. The Yankees own the first wild-card spot, so these clubs will battle over the weekend to improve their postseason positioning.
Check out the live stream for tonight's game here as well as the live radio broadcast here (NYY) or here (DET).
