Royals at Yankees
The New York Yankees have been playing .500 ball for just over the past month but they have a chance to get on a roll when they open a six-game homestand against the worst two teams in the major leagues. Reliever Zach Britton, acquired in a trade Tuesday, will be in uniform when New York begins a four-game series against the Kansas City Royals on Thursday night.
The Yankees are 14-14 over their past 28 games and five of those losses have come at Tampa Bay, including a pair of one-run setbacks this week. "We just have to play better," New York outfielder Brett Gardner told reporters. "We have a lot of baseball left. I feel confident the best is yet to come and we can be better than we’ve been, and I expect us to be." The Royals completed a 4-2 homestand with an 8-4 loss to Detroit on Wednesday and now embark on a 10-game road trip. Third baseman Mike Moustakas leads the team in home runs (20) and RBIs (62) but may not make it through the trek amid reports that he will be dealt by Tuesday's trade deadline.
TV: 7:05 p.m. ET, MLB Network, FS Kansas City, WPIX (New York)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Royals RH Jakob Junis (5-10, 5.03 ERA) vs. Yankees RH Sonny Gray (7-7, 5.34)
Junis returned from the disabled list with a four-inning stint in a no-decision versus Minnesota on Saturday, allowing one run and four hits. He had lost his previous seven starts - one shy of the franchise record - and was tagged for 12 homers over his past five outings while battling a balky back. Junis' last win came when he beat the Yankees in Kansas City on May 18, allowing two runs and seven hits over 5 1/3 innings.
Gray rebounded from a pair of wretched performances to win back-to-back starts for the first time since joining New York 11 months ago, holding the cross-city Mets to three runs over 5 1/3 innings. He tossed six scoreless innings of three-hit ball at Baltimore in his previous turn, which followed two starts in which he failed to get past 2 1/3 innings. Gray beat the Royals with eight innings of one-run ball on May 20.
WALK-OFFS
1. The Yankees have homered once since the All-Star break, their fewest in a five-game stretch since June 10-15, 2016.
2. Moustakas is 4-for-11 with a homer and four RBIs during a three-game hitting streak.
3. Yankees C Gary Sanchez (groin) is expected to be sidelined until at least late August, general manager Brian Cashman said.