Cardinals at Yankees
The New York Yankees have matched their best start at home since the historic 1998 team opened 7-0 and they will look to remain perfect in the Bronx when they end a three-game series with the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday night. Saturday's bizarre 3-2 victory gave the Yankees a 5-0 mark at their home park, tied with the 1999 and 2000 teams and just two behind the squad that won 114 regular-season games 19 years ago.
They squeaked out the one-run triumph in the second game of the set despite striking out 17 times, leaving 12 men on base and going 1-for-13 with runners in scoring position. The Cardinals got nothing going until solo homers in the eighth and ninth innings to make it interesting before falling for the eighth time in 10 games. They watched starter Carlos Martinez walk eight men and committed two more errors to give the team 10 through its first 11 games. New York's dominant homestand began when Michael Pineda took a perfect game into the seventh inning earlier in the week against Tampa Bay and he will seek an encore performance opposite St. Louis veteran Adam Wainwright.
TV: 8:05 p.m. ET, ESPN
PITCHING MATCHUP: Cardinals RH Adam Wainwright (0-2, 7.00 ERA) vs. Yankees RH Michael Pineda (1-1, 3.97)
Wainwright's bid for a bounceback campaign has gotten off to a rocky start and he gave up five earned runs and 11 hits in four innings of a 14-6 loss at Washington on Monday. The 35-year-old needs four strikeouts to become the 20th active pitcher with 1,500 for his career. Wainwright has never faced the Yankees but has had success against several of their hitters in the past, as Starlin Castro, Chase Headley, Chris Carter and Matt Holliday are a combined 14-for-68 with no home runs against him.
Pineda allowed two hits and a run in 7 2/3 innings of the home opener and he finished with 11 strikeouts to recover from a poor season debut at Tampa Bay five days earlier. "He had control of his pitches. He had control of the game," catcher Austin Romine told reporters after the outing. "At no point in time did he lose that control." The 28-year-old, who has never faced the Cardinals, is 6-3 with a 2.80 ERA in 11 career interleague starts.
WALK-OFFS
1. Holliday (back), who is batting .242 with a homer and five RBIs, was a late scratch Saturday.
2. New York is 1-for-30 with runners in scoring position over the last three games.
3. Cardinals CF Dexter Fowler is 0-for-9 in the series and 6-for-44 with 14 strikeouts on the season.