Yankees at Indians
Sonny Gray will make his debut for the New York Yankees when they open up a big four-game series at the Cleveland Indians on Thursday. Acquired in a trade with the Oakland Athletics on Monday, Gray brings an ace-like presence to the Yankees and seems to be overjoyed at the change of scenery.
"Every kid wants to play for the Yankees," Gray told reporters. "It is not something that I'm going to take for granted. I'm very excited to be here and get to work. Thursday, for me, can't come soon enough." The 27-year-old right-hander will slot into what figures to be a temporary six-man rotation for New York, which is coming off a 2-0 loss to Detroit on Wednesday in a rain-marred affair that took nearly eight hours to complete - falling one game out of first place in the American League East. The Indians, in first place in the AL Central by 2 1/2 games, have dropped three in a row following a nine-game winning streak and had their opportunity to end the slide wiped away by rain Wednesday in Boston, forcing a rotation shuffle that gives ace Corey Kluber the start in the series opener. Cleveland placed shutdown reliever Andrew Miller (knee) on the 10-day disabled list and announced that starter Josh Tomlin could miss six weeks with a left hamstring tendon strain.
TV: 7:10 p.m. ET, YES (New York), STO (Cleveland)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Yankees RH Sonny Gray (6-5, 3.43 ERA) vs. Indians RH Corey Kluber (8-3, 2.90)
Gray finished his stay in Oakland with a streak of six straight quality starts, during which he was 4-2 with a 1.37 ERA. Included in that span was a scoreless six-inning outing in a 5-0 win over Cleveland on July 14, which left the Vanderbilt product 3-2 with a 3.43 ERA in his career versus the Indians. He has had solid results against several Cleveland regulars, including Edwin Encarnacion (5-for-21), Carlos Santana (2-for-18), Francisco Lindor (2-for-12) and Jose Ramirez (2-for-12).
Kluber gave up four runs - his highest total in a span of 11 starts - in a no-decision at the Chicago White Sox his last time out. He fanned 12 batters and has an eye-popping 120 strikeouts in 77 1/3 innings since coming off the disabled list in June. The former Cy Young Award winner has a 1.91 ERA in five career starts against the Yankees and has dominated New York newcomer Todd Frazier (2-for-23, nine strikeouts).
WALK-OFFS
1. Yankees RF Aaron Judge has struck out in 21 consecutive games.
2. Lindor is batting .380 during a 12-game hitting streak.
3. New York is 20-11 in its last 31 games at Progressive Field.