The Yankees continue the push for the playoffs as Brandon McCarthy (5-2, 1.90 ERA) takes on Rick Porcello (14-8, 3.10 ERA) in a pivotal matchup in Detroit. McCarthy had his best outing of the season his last time out. He threw a four hit shutout against the Astros, racking up eight strikeouts in his longest start in pinstripes. “I feel confident again,” McCarthy said. “I feel like I’m able to get through situations. I wasn’t there, and then you start to believe you can. It’s just kind of the story of the season, riding those ups and downs.”
Porcello’s last start was his third shutout of the season. He allowed three hits and retitred 20 in a row at one point in a win over the Rays. “When you throw consecutive pitches on the inner half or in off the plate and you get them swinging at it, it makes the outer half of the plate look pretty far away,” Porcello said. He started against the Yanks on August 7th allowing one run in seven innings, but still lost the game.Â
Add an injured left hamstring to the never ending list of ailments for Glass Bones Teixeira. The injury is not expected to be serious since he was available to pinch hit on Monday, but with 13 straight games, Joe Girardi decided to give him the day off. “This is a brutal stretch of games, and we’ve got some guys banged up, so any opportunity to get some rest, we’re going to try to take advantage of it,” Teixeira said.
Joining Teixeria on the bench is Brett Gardner, who missed his second straight game after fouling a ball off his right ankle on Saturday. “I’m encouraged with the way it feels today, hopefully I can do some things on it today and get back to full speed Tuesday,” said Gardner. “I feel a lot better today than I did Sunday.”
Notes on the game
Since joining the Yanks, McCarthy has struck out 51 batters and issued just 7 walks.
The Yankees’ win streak is tied for their season high. The last time they won six straight games was from July 1-6 of last season.
7:10 pm on My9.
