Mets at Yankees
The New York Yankees finally cooled off the red-hot New York Mets and will go for their fifth consecutive victory in the middle game of the Subway Series on Saturday at Yankee Stadium. The Yankees improved to 7-1 in their last eight games with a 6-1 rout in Friday's series opener, snapping the Mets' franchise record-tying winning streak at 11 games.
CC Sabathia will oppose unbeaten Mets ace Matt Harvey in a high-profile matchup of two pitchers returning from major injuries but headed in opposite directions. Harvey missed last season following Tommy John surgery while Sabathia was limited to eight starts before undergoing knee surgery. Mark Teixeira belted a pair of homers and Jacoby Ellsbury added a solo shot as the Yankees scored at least five runs for the ninth time in 12 games. The Mets, who own the best record in baseball at 13-4 and amassed 57 runs in their winning streak, were held to their lowest run total since a 2-1 defeat at Washington in the second game of the season.
TV: 4:05 p.m. ET, Fox Sports 1, SNY
PITCHING MATCHUP: Mets RH Matt Harvey (3-0, 3.50 ERA) vs. Yankees LH CC Sabathia (0-3, 4.35)
Harvey admitted he "ran out of gas" on Sunday against Miami while dealing with flu-like symptoms but earned his third straight victory despite permitting four runs on eight hits in six-plus innings. He gave up three runs, including a pair of solo homers, over six innings to beat Philadelphia in his previous outing. Harvey's control has been sensational - he's struck out 24 and walked one over 18 innings.
Sabathia remained winless despite his best outing of the season, going eight innings and giving up two runs in a 2-1 defeat at Detroit. He allowed four earned runs in each of his first two starts, striking out 15 and yielding 15 hits over 12 2/3 innings in losses to Baltimore and Toronto. The 34-year-old Sabathia is 3-1 with a 2.14 ERA in five career starts against the Mets but hasn't faced them since 2012.
WALK-OFFS
1. Teixeira, second in the American League with seven blasts, had his first two-homer game since July 9.
2. Harvey, who is battling a balky ankle, fanned 10 in eight innings of one-run ball in his only start versus the Yankees on May 28, 2013.
3. Sabathia has lost his last four starts at Yankee Stadium.