Athletics at Yankees
The New York Yankees will try to bounce back from a rare defeat when they begin a three-game series against the visiting Oakland Athletics on Friday. The Yankees' eight-game winning streak - and their 11-game run at home - came to a halt with a 5-4 loss in the finale of a series with the Boston Red Sox on Thursday.
After enduring a 55-minute rain delay, New York rallied from a 4-0 deficit to tie it in the seventh before struggling set-up man Dellin Betances served up a go-ahead homer in the eighth as the Yankees lost for just the second time in 19 games and fell back into a first-place tie with the Red Sox. The Athletics dipped below .500 (18-19) by dropping three straight to Houston at home to begin the week, managing just five runs in the process. Yankees right-hander Sonny Gray will be facing his former team for the first time when he toes the rubber in the series opener. The Athletics had not announced a starter as of Thursday night but the expectation was for Kendall Graveman to be recalled from Triple-A Nashville for the outing.
TV: 7:05 p.m. ET, MLB Network, NBCS California (Oakland), YES (New York)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Athletics RH Kendall Graveman (0-5, 8.89 ERA) vs. Yankees RH Sonny Gray (2-2, 6.00)
Graveman was optioned to Nashville on April 26 despite posting his only quality start in six turns the day before at Texas. He had another rocky outing in his return to the minors before allowing two runs in 6 2/3 innings in his most recent start Sunday against Memphis. The 27-year-old won his only prior start at Yankee Stadium in 2016 while giving up a run on three hits with eight strikeouts in 6 1/3 innings.
Gray recorded one quality start and displayed an unsightly 7.71 ERA through his first five starts before allowing two runs on four hits over six innings in consecutive outings. He struck out seven in a win against Cleveland last time out while improving to 4-3 despite a 5.50 ERA at Yankee Stadium. Matt Joyce is 7-for-21 with a pair of walks against Gray, who was an All-Star with Oakland in 2015 and won 44 games with the Athletics from 2013-17.
WALK-OFFS
1. Betances has an ERA of 19.29 in the eighth inning.
2. Oakland swept four straight from New York at home last June.
3. Athletics CF Dustin Fowler, the team's top prospect, is expected to get his first career start after going 0-for-1 as a pinch hitter in his debut Wednesday.