While the New York Yankees are locked in a tight race with the Baltimore Orioles for American League East supremacy, the Cleveland Guardians are finding their lead in the AL Central growing somewhat tenuous in recent weeks.
Both teams will attempt to improve their positioning in their respective divisions Tuesday night when the Yankees host the Guardians in the opener of a three-game series.
The Yankees took two of three in Cleveland April 13-14 and are three percentage points ahead of the Guardians at .584. New York is 13-7 in its past 20 games after dropping 23 of its previous 33 from June 15-July 26, but the Yankees also went an underwhelming 8-7 in a stretch of 15 straight games against opponents with losing records.
After scoring 10 runs Wednesday against the Chicago White Sox, the Yankees were held to five runs and 15 hits and dropped two of three to the Detroit Tigers over the weekend.
The Yankees split the first two games of the series in Detroit before traveling to Williamsport, Pa., for the Little League Classic, where they were handed a 3-2, 10-inning loss when Clay Holmes blew a 1-0 lead for his major league-leading 10th blown save. Holmes’ blown save occurred before Mark Leiter Jr. allowed the game-winning hit in the 10th.
Holmes converted his first 13 of his first 14 saves but has blown nine of 22 save chances since then, though manager Aaron Boone said the right-hander would remain the closer.
“I can think of a couple of them where we didn’t make a play and it goes on him, but it’s not really (on him),” Boone said. “The reality is he’s throwing the ball really well. That said, we’ve got a lot of guys that I feel like are throwing the ball really well in some certain situations. But right now, Clay’s the guy.”
Cleveland is hoping to prevent the Yankees from handing the ball to Holmes, especially after being held to four runs and getting swept in a three-game series at Milwaukee. Cleveland held a six-game lead following its 8-4 win over the Baltimore Orioles on Aug. 2 but is 5-10 in its past 15 contests, and its lead is down to two games.
The Guardians scored 17 runs in a three-game sweep of the Chicago Cubs but were held to 13 hits and had six at-bats with runners in scoring position over the weekend. Jose Ramirez was 0-for-4 Sunday — when the Guardians were no-hit for 5 2/3 innings — and is 1-for-13 in his past four games.
“It’s a frustrating series,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. “There’s no other way to put it.”
Rookie Luis Gil (12-6, 3.25) starts for New York and attempts to bounce back from a tough outing. Gil was 3-0 with a 2.11 ERA in his previous four starts before allowing four runs on seven hits in four innings during a 12-2 loss at the White Sox last Monday.
Gil’s only previous outing against Cleveland occurred Sept. 18, 2021, in New York when he allowed two runs on three hits in 4 1/3 innings of an 11-3 loss.
Matthew Boyd (0-0, 1.69) will make his second start since joining Cleveland’s rotation. Boyd made his season debut a week ago against the Cubs and allowed one run on three hits in 5 1/3 innings while throwing 80 pitches in a no-decision.
Boyd is 1-3 with a 5.19 ERA in five career starts against the Yankees. He last pitched in New York April 3, 2019, for the Detroit Tigers when he struck out 13 in 6 1/3 innings in a no-decision.
–Field Level Media