Where & When To Watch
Tonight: Coverage of Game 1 begins at 6:30 on YES and the YES App.
Wednesday: Coverage of Game 2 begins at 6:30 p.m. on Prime. YES and the YES App will have the Postgame Show right after the final out.
Thursday: Coverage of Game 3 begins at 6:00 p.m. on YES and the YES App.
Leading Off
After finishing their home slate by taking two out of three games from Arizona, this evening the Yankees are opening a six-game road trip that will end their season. The first stop is in Toronto for three matchups with a Blue Jays team fighting for one of the last two American League Wild Card playoff spots. Entering Canada at 79-77, a sweep north of the border would assure the Yankees of finishing with a winning record for the 31st consecutive year.
How ‘Bout That
What a night for Aaron Judge on Friday against the Diamondbacks! In the Yankees’ 7-1 win, Judge put together his second career three-homer game – the other took place Aug. 23 against Washington. Judge became the first Yankee in history to record multiple three-homer games in one season and he’s also just the seventh Yankee ever with two such games on their resume. His performance that night also gave him 35 home runs for the season despite a big chunk of time missed due to his toe injury. He’s an option off the bench tonight, and if Judge appears in every game from now through the end of the year, he would end up playing a total of 108 games. The all-time MLB record for homers in a season by someone who played in 108 games or fewer is held by Mark McGwire, who homered 39 times in 104 games with the 1995 Athletics, so Judge has a chance to catch him!
Pinstriped Pulse
On Monday, Everson Pereira returned from a strained hamstring and went 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI in his first game since Sept. 14, delivering his first career multi-hit performance. Oswald Peraza blasted a 443-foot home run in that come-from-behind 6-4 win over Arizona that saw the Yanks rally from three different deficits. Peraza is batting .290 over his last 18 games and has done an impressive job defensively at third base. Austin Wells has two multi-hit efforts in his last four games and six of his 10 hits with the Yankees have gone for extra bases including a pair of home runs. Clay Holmes has given up just one earned run over his last 11 appearances while closing out all six of his save opportunities during that span.
Probable Pitchers
One of the best pitchers in baseball during the last month, Michael King will try to stay hot as the finish line approaches when he starts opposite Kevin Gausman. Gausman threw six shutout innings in the Bronx last Wednesday and leads the American League in strikeouts with 232, four more than Minnesota’ Pablo Lopez and 15 more than Gerrit Cole. King tossed a 13-strikeout gem in that same game, and in five starts since beginning his transition from the bullpen to the rotation King has posted an ERA of 1.27, leading the American League among pitchers who have thrown at least 28 innings since the date that stretch began Aug. 24.
Speaking of Cole, he appears to be the heavy favorite for this year’s AL Cy Young Award and will have one more opportunity to burnish his credentials tomorrow when he makes what will likely be his final start of the season. He’ll take the ball opposite José Berríos in a rematch from last Thursday when Cole retired the first 16 batters he faced on his way to eight innings of one-run ball and his 14th win of the season. Luke Weaver will start against the first team that drafted him when he works Thursday against Chris Bassitt. Toronto selected Weaver out of high school in the 19th round of the 2011 Draft, but he chose not to sign, went to college and then was drafted out of Florida State University 27th overall by the Cardinals three years later. After going four innings in his Yankees debut Sept. 16, Weaver threw 5.1 shutout innings Friday in his Stadium debut to defeat the Diamondbacks, who he pitched for from the 2019 season until he was moved at last year’s trade deadline.
