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Yankees vs. Braves series preview

After closing out an important series with the Red Sox on Sunday, the Yankees continue at home by hosting the Atlanta Braves starting Monday night. After taking five out of six between Boston and the Phillies, the Yanks continue a tough stretch by playing the best team in the National League.

As both teams are at the top of a tight division race, another series win here would be huge for New York, as they play the next seven games against the Blue Jays and Orioles. For Atlanta, they finished a sweep of the Cardinals last night after losing four of six to the Orioles and Reds.

Game 1 (Jonathan Loaisiga vs Anibal Sanchez)

Loaisiga (2-0, 1.93 ERA) has been better than advertised to say the least ever since his call-up on June 15. Two of his three starts have been scoreless, and he carried a no-hitter to the sixth inning against the Phillies in his last outing. However, Johnny Lasagna has not made it into the seventh in any of his starts, with his longest outing being 5.1 innings a week ago.

Nonetheless, he is exceeding expectations and the Yankees are leaning on him to set the tone for the series with another strong start in the opener.

Sanchez (3-2, 2.68 ERA) is experiencing somewhat of a renaissance in his first eight starts with Atlanta. The 34-year-old left his last start with right calf cramps, but seems well enough to pitch in the Bronx tonight. After owning a 1.93 ERA through six starts and a relief appearance, Sanchez is starting to revert back to the mean (5.59 ERA in last two starts).

Sanchez is 4-1 with a 3.79 ERA in six starts against the Yankees, with his latest coming in 2017 where he went 6.2 innings and allowed two runs.

Game 2 (Domingo German vs Sean Newcomb)

German (2-4, 5.32 ERA) most recently got tagged for six runs in three innings against the Rays. On the other hand, he has had some quality starts (7.0 IP, 2 ER, 9 K vs Seattle; 6.0 IP, 0 R, 9 K vs Cleveland). Inconsistency is natural from a young pitcher that was essentially thrown into the rotation as a result of injuries. However, aside from the Tampa Bay outing, it seems that German keeps the game within reach when he exits, which is all the Yankees need him to do against Atlanta on Tuesday.

Newcomb (8-2, 2.71 ERA) is experiencing a solid sophomore season as he ranks eighth in NL on the ERA leaderboard. The 25-year-old has tossed six plus innings in each of his last three outings and pitched to a 1.89 ERA in that stretch. Granted, he pitched against some of the cellar-dwellers of the league (Padres, Orioles, Reds). This will be a test for him as he faces one of the best offenses in baseball in the Bronx.

Game 3 (C.C. Sabathia vs Julio Teheran)

Sabathia (5-3, 3.02 ERA) so far is pitching his best season since 2011, where he finished with a 3.00 ERA. The 37-year-old has rolled through the likes of Boston, Washington, Cleveland and the Angels. He may not sustain this much success, but that is no reason to discount what he’s already done this year for the Yankees. Sabathia is the stopper of the rotation, which makes him the perfect pitcher to end this series with. He has not started against Atlanta since 2012, but owns a 3.31 ERA in four career starts against them.

Teheran (6-5, 4.21 ERA) has shown some inconsistency throughout the season. In his last four starts, two of them have been six scoreless innings, whereas the righty allowed 11 runs in the other two. His only start against the Yankees: 4.1 innings, nine hits, eight earned runs and three home runs allowed in 2015.