Indians at Yankees
The New York Yankees look to build off an impressive road trip when they open their nine-game homestand Friday with the first of three contests against the Cleveland Indians. The Yankees scored three times in the top of the ninth inning on Thursday to post their third straight victory and 12th in 13 contests, a 6-5 triumph at Houston that concluded a 6-1 trek.
“Our road trip, going to Anaheim and getting three wins on a team that’s one of the best in the game right now, and then come here in Houston and battle back after a tough first loss against them, that just kind of shows what kind of team we are,” New York’s Aaron Judge told reporters after knocking in the winning run Thursday. CC Sabathia goes after his 240th career victory when he takes the mound for the Yankees on Friday against the scuffling Josh Tomlin. The Indians managed to earn a split of a weather-delayed doubleheader at home against Toronto on Thursday, taking the second game 13-4 after coughing up a lead in the opener and suffering a 13-11 defeat in 11 innings. Francisco Lindor knocked in six runs for Cleveland in the twinbill and is 14-for-31 with three home runs during his six-game hitting streak.
TV: 7:05 p.m. ET, SportsTime Ohio (Cleveland), WPIX (New York)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Indians RH Josh Tomlin (0-4, 9.16 ERA) vs. Yankees LH CC Sabathia (2-0, 1.71)
Tomlin has struggled mightily in three of his first four starts of 2018, including the last two in which he allowed 11 runs and 17 hits over 9 2/3 innings en route to defeats. The 33-year-old Texas Tech product has served up 10 homers - six in his last two outings - across 18 2/3 frames while opponents are batting .360 against him. Tomlin, who went 10-9 with 23 homers allowed in 141 innings last year, is 3-3 with a 5.79 in eight career games (seven starts) versus the Yankees.
Sabathia has picked up where he left off last season (14-5) by allowing just five earned runs across 26 1/3 innings to open 2018 after posting back-to-back quality starts. The 37-year-old former Cy Young Award winner gave up one unearned run over six frames on April 24 to beat Minnesota and yielded just one run in seven innings five days later in a 2-1 win over the Los Angeles Angels. Lindor is 5-for-9 with a double versus Sabathia, who is 4-3 with a 3.65 ERA in 11 career games against the Indians.
WALK-OFFS
1. Cleveland 1B-DH Edwin Encarnacion is 8-for-15 with three homers and nine RBIs over his last three contests.
2. New York rookie 2B Gleyber Torres knocked in three runs Thursday and is 13-for-41 in his first 12 major-league games.
3. Indians 2B Jason Kipnis has recorded four multi-hit peformances in his last five games, raising his batting average to .202.