Tanaka set to start series opener for New York against Toronto
Posted Sep 14, 2018 07:41:39 AM.
Last Updated Sep 14, 2018 08:20:52 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Toronto Blue Jays (65-81, fourth in AL East) vs. New York Yankees (90-56, second in AL East)
New York; Friday, 7:05 p.m. Eastern
PROBABLE PITCHERS: Blue Jays: Marco Estrada (7-11, 5.32 ERA, 1.40 WHIP, 95 strikeouts) Yankees: Masahiro Tanaka (11-5, 3.61 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, 144 strikeouts)
BOTTOM LINE: Toronto hits the road to start the three-game series. The Yankees are 15-9 in Tanaka’s starts this year. New York’s lineup has 234 home runs this season, led by Giancarlo Stanton’s mark of 33. The Blue Jays come into the matchup as losers of their last three games. Toronto has slugged .427 this season, Teoscar Hernandez leads the team with a mark of .473. In their last meeting on Aug. 19, J.A. Happ earned the win in a 10-2 victory for the Yankees.
TOP PERFORMERS: Justin Smoak is batting .247 for the Blue Jays this season, and his .466 slugging percentage is 24th in the American League. Devon Travis has 12 hits and is batting .308 over his past 10 games for Toronto. Didi Gregorius has a .267 batting average for the Yankees, and Aaron Hicks is hitting .244. Luke Voit has three home runs and four RBIs over his past 10 games for New York.
LAST 10 GAMES: Blue Jays: 3-7, .242 batting average, 4.55 ERA, outscored by 11 runs. Yankees: 4-6, .204 batting average, 4.55 ERA, outscored by six runs.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by HERO Sports, and data from Sportradar.
