Yankees and Tigers Game Preview

4 of 5

Aug 25, 2014; Kansas City, MO, USA; New York Yankees players

Jacoby Ellsbury

(22),

Stephen Drew

(33) and

Brendan Ryan

(17) celebrate after beating the Kansas City Royals 8-1 at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Peter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports

On August 21st, with the Yankees sitting five games out of a playoff spot, and their season looking on the brink, the Yankees’ position players decided to call a player’s-only meeting, to discuss the lack of consistent offense, and how it was now or never if they were going to make a postseason run. The message was obviously loud and clear, as the Yankees have gone on a 5-0 run since that meeting was called, and have been coming through with timely hits more than ever this season.

Monday was just another example of that, as the Yankees walloped the first-place Kansas City Royals, 8-1 at Kauffman Stadium, to stretch their win streak to five in a row. With the win, the Yankees closed the margin between them, and the Seattle Mariners (the team that holds the last Wild Card spot), to 2.5 games. What looked like a season on life support, suddenly has a very strong pulse, and the Yankees are doing all in their power to make sure this run continues. If it is going to continue, they’re going to have to get through a tough opponent starting tonight, in the Detroit Tigers.

The Tigers are a very powerful/dangerous team, but have struggled offensively as of late, and have slipped out of first place, and into second behind the Royals. The last time the Yankees faced the Tigers at the Stadium, the Yankees surprised many by taking 3 out of 4 games in the series, the Yankees’ pitching completely shutting Detroit down all series. The Yankees will look beat up on them again, starting tonight.

Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Pitching Matchup

Brandon McCarthy (5-2, 1.90 ERA) will get the start for the Yankees tonight. McCarthy has been brilliant for the Yankees, ever since they acquired him from the Arizona Diamondbacks, prior to the All-Star break, but his last start, was unquestionably his best. In his last start on Thursday, McCarthy held the Houston Astros scoreless over nine innings of shutout baseball. It was McCarthy’s ninth complete game of his career, and the fourth shutout. McCarthy just had everything working for him that day, and he hopes it will be the same case tonight. McCarthy also got the win against Detroit his last time out against them on August 4th. We’ll see if his trend of good starts continues for the Yankees.

Opposing McCarthy will be Rick Porcello (14-8, 3.10 ERA). Porcello pitched very well against the Yankees his last time facing them on August 7th, but was outpitched by Shane Greene, and ended up taking the loss. He will not doubt be hoping for a better outcome this time around.

Aug 25, 2014; Kansas City, MO, USA; New York Yankees center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury (22) hits a two run home run against the Kansas City Royals during the eighth inning at Kauffman Stadium. The Yankees beat the Royals 8-1. Mandatory Credit: Peter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports

Players To Watch

One player to watch for on the Yankees’ side is Jacoby Ellsbury. Ellsbury has been on a bit of a hot streak lately, going 3-for-5 with a two-run homer in yesterday’s game. He also has a .615 lifetime batting average against Porcello, so he is definitely someone to look out for.

A must-watch on the Tigers’ side is obviously Miguel Cabrera. As we all know, Cabrera has a ton of power, and can hit one into the seats at any time. McCarthy and the Yankees would surely like to limit that power, and keep his bat as quiet as possible this series.

Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports

Keys To Yankees Victory

The biggest key to the Yankees winning this series, will be continuing to put runs on the board. The Yankees’ offense has finally gotten it going, and there’s no turning back now, if they want to be in the postseason. Another key will be the way Brandon McCarthy, and the rest of the Yankees’ starters this series do.

Pitching has been the least of the Yankees’ concerns lately, as their rotation is in the top ten for lowest ERA in the league, since the All-Star break. But with a powerful lineup like Detroit’s, you just never know what could happen, so pitching and timely hitting (like always), will be crucial for the Yankees’ chances of winning.

Mandatory Credit: Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports

Prediction

The Yankees’ offense will have another good night tonight, beating up on Rick Porcello. Jacoby Ellsbury will have two RBI hits, Carlos Beltran will hit a home run, and Ichiro Suzuki will get an RBI base hit of his own, to back up seven strong innings from Brandon McCarthy, as the Yankees will take the first game of this series, by a final score of 6-3.