Series Preview: Yankees Face Indians in the Bronx

After winning 3 of 4 games against the Detroit Tigers, the Yankees (60-54) are set to face the Cleveland Indians (57-58) in a three-game series at Yankee Stadium. Cleveland will send out Trevor Bauer,  who is 4-6 with a 4.20 ERA, to face Esmil Rogers, making the spot start for the injured David Phelps. Rogers is 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA since joining the Yankees after being claimed off waivers from the Toronto Blue Jays. Saturday’s match up will be a day game and it should be a fun one. Corey Kluber, 12-6 with a 2.55 ERA will face off against the Yankees hottest pitcher, Brandon McCarthy, who boasts a 4-0 record with a 2.08 ERA in 5 starts since joining the Yankees in July. It will be McCarthy’s second start against Cleveland since coming over to the Bronx. He’ll look to continue his superb pitching after out-pitching Cy Young winner Max Scherzer in his last start. Sunday’s matinee will have a bit of mystery about it as Cleveland’s starter is yet to be announced. Hiroki Kuroda, 7-7  with a 3.97 ERA, will take the ball against the Indians and Mr. Question Mark.

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Offensively, the two teams are pretty even with the Yankees being spurred on by the recent string of great hitting by Carlos Beltran, Stephen Drew, Chase Headley and Brian McCann. The Indians will look to stars Michael Brantley, Carlos Santana (No concert is scheduled. Look it up), Jason Kipnis, Yan Gomes, and former Yankee Nick Swisher to help fuel their offensive attack. The Yankees will look to keep up the pattern of timely hitting that carried them in the Tigers series. Mark Teixeira will be out for at least the first game of the series with a pinky injury endured while sliding into home and cutting his finger on the catcher’s cleat. He received three stitches and X-rays showed no break. The finger is swollen and he’ll sit for the time being. No time on the disabled list is expected. Defensively, the Yankees have the advantage with Stephen Drew playing second base and Martin Prado playing third while Teixeira is out and Chase Headley fills in at first base. The Indians recently traded their defensive wizard of a shortstop, Asdrubal Cabrera and their defense has been below average for the majority of the year.

Notes to Know:

• Reliever Matt Daley was designated for assignment and the Yankees’ called up pitcher Bryan Mitchell to pitch out of the ‘pen.
• Starter Masahiro Tanaka is expected to play catch once again before today’s game as he continues to attempt to avoid Tommy John surgery and pitch again in 2014.
• This should be the last series the Yankees play without starter Michael Pineda, as he is expected to return next week against the Orioles barring any setbacks in his final rehab start tonight for the Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders.