The best way to get over a gross loss like last night is to deliver a big win the next day, and the Yankees have a great opportunity to do that against the Astros. Carlos Rodón will attempt to make his sixth straight start allowing two earned runs or less, and if he does that, New York might just walk away with a big series win.
Rodón has turned it on as the Yankees head into the final stretch of the season, as he and Max Fried were just about the only guys to show up in that series against Boston a couple weeks ago. He’s doing things a little different in that five-game streak mentioned above, running a 55-percent ground-ball rate and engineering some soft contact, which isn’t a bad approach against a team like Houston — they strike out less than all but six teams in MLB, so take their high-contact approach and turn it into medium-hit ground balls.
Advertisement
Opposing Carlos will be Cristian Javier, making his fifth start after Tommy John surgery. He’s been decent enough in the preceding four starts, running a wickedly low home run rate but a walk rate that needs to get better. He’s long been one of my favorite young pitchers to watch, but I hope he gets clubbed tonight.
There was some speculation that manager Aaron Boone would rest Giancarlo Stanton ahead of this weekend’s big series with Toronto, but the club needs his bat more than just about anything else right now, and the big man is back in left. Trent Grisham and Cody Bellinger are in center and right, and the now-warming Austin Wells will call the game with Ben Rice at first.
How to Watch:
Location: Daikin Park — Houston, TX
Advertisement
First Pitch: 7:40 p.m. EDT
TV broadcast: YES | Space City Home Network (HOU) | MLB Network (out-of-market only)
Radio broadcast: WFAN 660/101.9 FM, WADO 1280 | KBME 790 AM/94.5 FM HD-2, TUDN 93.3 FM (HOU)
Online stream: Gotham Sports App, MLB.tv (out-of-market only)
For updates, follow us on BlueSky, Twitter, and Instagram, and like us on Facebook.