After evening up this series on Tuesday the Yankees have a chance to walk out of Detroit with a series victory, but they’re going to have to face the two-time reigning Cy Young Award winner to manage it.
Tarik Skubal turned what could’ve been a lengthy injury into an blip on the radar, undergoing elbow surgery at the start of May to remove bone spurs but with a new procedure that minimized the invasiveness of the operation and cut his recovery time down to a 4-6 week timetable from what could’ve been months.
Sure enough, four weeks later Skubal was pitching in a rehab start and by mid-June was back in a Tigers uniform and on the mound taking on the Guardians.
That being said, Detroit’s ace has needed to build back to his previous form after the time off. Skubal was pitching lights out to start the year, looking to defend his title and perhaps win a third-consecutive Cy Young — in his seven starts across March and April, he pitched at least six innings in all but one of them and owned a 2.70 ERA for his troubles. Since returning he’s made two starts, lasting 4.2 innings against Cleveland while allowing three runs (two earned) before facing off with the White Sox and pitching 5.2 innings in that outing with three more runs to his name. He’s allowed a fair bit of solid contact with three home runs in that short span, but in that second start he looked a bit more like the old Skubal striking out eight batters. We’ll see if he’s settled in yet, or if the Yankees can take advantage of the ace not quite being at full strength.
The Yankees are countering with Ryan Weathers, the team’s fifth starter who righted the ship after a dreadful stretch of starts. Weathers concluded his May with a mixed bag outing against the A’s, striking out 10 batters in 6.2 innings but allowing five runs on three homers in the process. He followed that up with a couple of no-doubt stinkers, going six innings against Boston and again allowing five runs on two more blasts before Toronto tagged him for six runs in 4.1 innings with two more long balls to the tally. The homer has been the death of Weathers throughout this season, as his early successes came when he could keep it in the park but the majority of his duds had the common thread of giving up too much through the air. Weathers’ last outing served as a much-needed reset pitching into the seventh inning and allowing a lone solo shot to leave the yard, one of just three hits he allowed in his 6.1 innings of work. Now can he make it two quality outings in a row?
With Ryan McMahon hitting the IL today due to a throat infection, we’ll see both Anthony Volpe and José Caballero entrenched on the left side of the infield for a bit and the same remains true today as they start at shortstop and third base, respectively. Paul Goldschmidt hits leadoff and will play first base with the lefty on the mound, and he’s followed by Ben Rice at DH and Jasson Domínguez alongside Cody Bellinger as the corner outfielders to round out the top of the lineup. Jazz Chisholm Jr. slots in between the other infielders in the lineup and will play second base, Austin Wells gets his second consecutive start behind the plate, and it’ll be Max Schuemann roaming center field tonight to complete the batting order.
How to watch
Location: Comerica Park — Detroit, MI
First pitch: 6:40 pm ET
TV broadcast: Detroit SportsNet
Radio broadcast: WFAN 660/101.9 FM, WADO 1280 (NYY), WXYT 97.1 FM, LaZ WDTW 1310AM/207.9 FM (DET)
Online stream: Amazon Prime Video
For updates, follow us on BlueSky, Twitter, and Instagram, and like us on Facebook.
