The New York Yankees (44-38) will host the Oakland Athletics (38-47) for a three-game set beginning on Tuesday night in the Bronx. New York won a crucial series against the Tampa Bay Rays over the weekend while Oakland failed to take full advantage of a four-game series against the Seattle Mariners.
Nathan Eovaldi will head out to the mound at 7:05 p.m. ET tonight against A's right-hander and Cy Young candidate Sonny Gray. Despite Eovaldi's 4.52 ERA, the right-hander has an 8-2 record and is on a three-game winning streak against quality clubs such as the Detroit Tigers, Houston Astros and Los Angeles Angels.
Those three wins came after a nightmarish outing against the Miami Marlins on June 16, where Eovaldi allowed eight earned runs on nine hits in just 2/3 of an inning. The 25-year-old has been erratic this season, but the potential is there and the Yankees are sticking with him in hopes he can find his rhythm to provide some stability for their shaky rotation.
He faced the A's back in May and surrendered three earned runs on 11 hits and two walks in 4 2/3 innings, but the Yankees won 5-3.
On a brighter note, New York ranks third in the MLB with 379 runs scored. They'll need all the firepower they have to take down Gray.
The fellow 25-year-old is 9-3 and leads the American League with a 2.09 ERA. He's following up his breakout campaign with a Cy Young-caliber season so far through 16 starts. He faced New York earlier in the year as well and earned the win after giving up two earned runs on four hits and two walks in eight innings of work.
Gray has delivered 13 quality starts out of his 16 total outings and two of his three losses came when he surrendered two earned runs or less over at least six innings.
However, his worst start of 2015 came on June 19 when he was knocked around by the Angels. Gray allowed six runs (five earned) on five hits and three walks in six innings and the A's fell 12-7. Additionally, he was hospitalized last Monday-Wednesday due to salmonella poisoning.
His last start came on June 25.
The Yankees could take advantage of Gray's prolonged absence from the mound, or maybe Gray will benefit from the extended rest.
The A's rank sixth in the MLB with 372 runs scored and Eovaldi certainly has a tough task ahead of him. Nonetheless, this series is important for both clubs because the Yankees are looking to improve their lead atop the AL East while the Athletics hope to avoid falling further out of contention.
New York will get one last close look at A's utility man Ben Zobrist, who could become one of the top trade candidates before the July 31 deadline.
Check out the live stream for tonight's game here as well as the live radio broadcast here (NYY) or here (OAK).
