The Bombers come back to the Bronx for a seven game homestand after an 11 game road trip to take on the Twins. Vidal Nuno (1-1, 5.49 ERA) gets the ball first to take on Ricky Nolasco (2-5, 6.12 ERA). Nuno was able to give the Yanks seven innings in his last start against the White Sox, his longest outing of the season. He allowed three runs in the no decision and pitched a season high 101 pitches. He has never faced any hitters from the current Twins roster.
Nolasco struggled against the Giants on Sunday, allowing seven runs on nine hits and a walk over just 4 2/3 innings. He is down to a 5.58 ERA in May after a 6.67 ERA in April. He has never faced the Yanks in his career.
Mark Teixeira took an extra off day Thursday to rest what the Yankees hope is just a stiff right wrist. “The thought is, it’s just inflammation,” Girardi said on Wednesday. “It’s still a little bit sore, so we didn’t put him in there tonight. There’s still more improvement, but he still feels it, so we thought it was in his best interest just to give him another day, which probably gives him two more.”
Yangervis Solarte recently found himself in the middle slump. His .285 batting average remains tops among rookies across the Majors, but it has dropped in recent games. Since May 15th he has hit just .152. “We always look for reasons why a guy is scuffling,” Girardi said. “It’s part of the game. Players go through things, either really hot streaks or cold streaks. If you didn’t go through them, you’d probably hit .400 or .500 all the time. You know they’re going to go through them, and when they’re going through them, sometimes you just need to give them a little break.”
Notes on the game
The three pitchers in this series (Nuno, Tanaka and Whitley) have never faced the Twins or any player on their roster.
The Yanks took the series from the Twins in 2013 going 5-2.
Carlos Beltran took 50 swings in the cage Thursday of soft toss.
First pitch @ 7:05 PM on Yes
