Yankees at Blue Jays
The Toronto Blue Jays look to return the favor with a home sweep of the
New York Yankees when the teams wrap up their three-game series
Wednesday night. The Yankees took three straight from the Blue Jays last
week at home, but have had a rough time of it north of the border.
Following an 8-3 loss in the series opener, New York fell behind 6-0 on
Tuesday night before rallying to tie it and then losing 7-6 on an error
in the ninth.
The Yankees have lost four straight games,
continuing a streaky stretch that has seen the club record two four-game
winning streaks and two four-game losing streaks this month alone. The
current slide can be pinned largely on the pitching and defense, which
has allowed opponents to plate 29 runs in the four losses. New York
starters have given up 14 runs in 8 1/3 innings in the series so far.
TV: 7:07 p.m. ET, YES (New York), SNET (Toronto)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Yankees RH Hiroki Kuroda (4-5, 4.23 ERA) vs. Blue Jays RH Drew Hutchison (5-5, 3.86)
Kuroda
allowed two runs on four hits in six innings in a no-decision against
Baltimore on Friday, but remains without a win in his last four starts.
He has yielded only 16 hits in 24 1/3 innings in that span, only one of
which left the yard. The 39-year-old is 1-3 with a 5.65 ERA in five
career starts at Toronto.
Hutchison has been roughed up twice by
the Yankees this year, including a 4 1/3-inning outing at New York on
Thursday in which he surrendered four runs on six hits and a season high-matching four walks. He has allowed 10 runs in 7 2/3 frames versus New York in
2014 and has also posted a 9.49 ERA over his last three home starts
overall. Hutchison has 14 strikeouts over his last five outings after
recording 59 in his first 10.
WALK-OFFS
1. Blue Jays SS Jose Reyes is 9-for-20 with two triples and two doubles against Kuroda.
2. The Yankees have allowed just one stolen base over the last 16 games.
3. Toronto RF Jose Bautista has missed two straight games due to a sore hamstring.