The New York Yankees are the first to win 60 games this season in the majors, and they are planning to add a whole lot more. They are up against the Colorado Rockies in a three-game series that kicks off this Friday at the Bronx. The Rockies are buried deep below the National League West division. The Yankees are +350 to win the 2019 World Series, while the Rockies are +3000 to win their division.
Starters: Kyle Freeland (2-6, 7.39 ERA) vs. J.A. Happ (7-5, 4.93 ERA)
Pitching:
Freeland isn’t having success on the mound of late. He has surrendered a total of 17earned runs in his last three starts that spanned just 11.0 innings. All those starts were in Colorado, though. On the road, he is 1-3 with a 5.04 ERA in six starts. Happ hasn’t allowed more than two earned runs in two of his last three starts, including during the Yankees’ 2-1 home loss to the Toronto Blue Jays on Jul. 13 in which he gave up a pair of earned runs on five hits in 5.1 innings. Happ is 4-5 with a 5.98 ERA in 10 home starts this season.
Hitting
Daniel Murphy is 4-for-11 with a homer in career vs. Happ.
DJ LeMahieu is batting .333 against lefties this season.
Prediction: Yankees win, 8-4.
GAME 2
Starters: Antonio Senzatela (8-6, 5.79 ERA) vs. Masahiro Tanaka (6-5, 3.81 ERA)
Pitching:
Senzatela was clobbered in his last start, but somehow got a win. Against the Cincinnati Reds on Ju; 14 at home, Senzatela gave up eight earned runs on seven hits, while striking out four and walking two hitters in a 10-9 victory. He has allowed 15 earned runs over his last two starts. Tanaka picked up his first win since the All-Star Break in his last start, when he limited the Blue Jays down to only two earned runs on four hits across 6.0 innings of a 4-2 home victory pm Jul. 14. Tanaka is 5-2 with a 2.86 ERA in 11 home starts this season.
Hitting
Daniel Murphy is 2-for-7 with a homer in career vs. Tanaka.
The current Yankees roster has a collective .143 batting average against Senzatela.
Prediction: Yankees win, 7-3.
GAME 3
Starters: German Marquez (8-5, 5.12 ERA) vs. James Paxton (5-4, 3.94 ERA)
Pitching:
Marquez would rather erase from his memory anything that’s related to his last start, wherein he was blasted for 11 earned runs on 11 hits during a 19-2 home loss to the San Francisco Giants on Jul. 15. He is 0-2 with an 11.66 ERA in three starts this July thus far. Paxton has been steadier than Marquez. Paxton has pitched for at least six inning and allowed no more than two earned runs in each of his last three starts. He is 2-2 with a 3.22 ERA in nine home starts this season.
Hitting
Edwin Encarnacion is the only active (and non-injured) Yankees hitter who’s faced Marquez before. He’s 0-for-2 in career against the Rockies’ righty.
