Yankees at Twins
Robinson Cano continues to be the primary source of power for the New York Yankees. With multiple hits and a run scored in six consecutive contests, Cano will look to lead the Yankees to an impressive four-game sweep of the host Minnesota Twins on Thursday afternoon. Cano, who went 2-for-3 with a two-run double in Wednesday's 3-2 triumph, is a gaudy 14-for-24 with 10 RBIs and nine runs scored in the last six contests.
While New York has won three in a row, Minnesota has dropped four straight and nine of 12. If one is looking for positives with the Twins, Joe Mauer is showing signs of breaking out of his prolonged slump. The face of the franchise, Mauer ended an 0-for-18 stretch with an RBI single in Tuesday's 7-3 loss and opened the scoring the following night with a run-scoring double.
TV: 2:10 p.m. ET, YES (New York), Fox Sports North (Minnesota)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Yankees RH David Phelps (5-5, 4.95 ERA) vs. Twins RH Kyle Gibson (1-0, 3.00)
Phelps was blasted out of the blocks in his last trip to the mound. The 26-year-old yielded a career-high nine runs on as many hits in 2 1/3 innings en route to an 11-3 loss to Baltimore on Saturday. Phelps, who has yet to face Minnesota in his career, has struggled away from Yankee Stadium - posting a 1-3 mark with a 5.80 ERA.
Gibson became Minnesota's initial first-round pick to win a start in his major-league debut. The 25-year-old allowed two runs on eight hits over six innings in a 6-2 triumph versus Kansas City. Gibson showed excellent control as he did not issue a walk and kept the ball in the park.
WALK-OFFS
1. New York RF Ichiro Suzuki has scored a run in each game of the series.
2. Minnesota OF Josh Willingham had successful arthroscopic surgery on his left meniscus on Wednesday. He is expected to be sidelined four to six weeks.
3. New York's Ivan Nova will start Friday's game versus the Orioles in place of fellow RHP Hiroki Kuroda, who will have an MRI on his ailing left hip flexor.