The New York Yankees are doing everything right in their quest to get the top seed in the American League East. The team is battling with the Toronto Blue Jays and their offense is meeting the challenge as they continue their serious with the Tampa Bay Rays as the two teams face off on Saturday.
The Yankees are getting production finally from Stephen Drew while Mark Teixeira remains out with an injury. The first baseman has been out and is not expected to return any time soon, but Greg Bird is holding down the fort while he heals. Rob Refsnyder is another player helping gets scores while Brian McCann is finding his swing at the right time. All of this is helping New York average 8.9 runs in their last seven games. They sit one half of a game back from the Blue Jays.
Nathan Eovaldi gets the start on the mound. He is 14-2 with a 4.17 ERA on the season. He has gotten plenty of run support lately. The Yankees scored 20 runs with him on the mound against the Atlanta Braves. Eovaldi is 9-0 with a 3.32 ERA during the stretch of getting 7.89 runs per game. His last start against Tampa Bay did see him getting the loss after he gave up four runs in seven innings.
"Any time you get a lead, you want to try to go after the hitters as much as possible," Eovaldi said, via ESPN.com. "You try to pitch like it's a 0-0 ballgame all the time. It's a good feeling, getting a lot of run support."
Matt Moore gets the start for Tampa Bay as he is 1-3 with an 8.78 ERA on the season. He has been struggling and took a stint in the minors while recovering from Tommy John surgery. He has last his last three outings with a 10.66 ERA in that stretch. That is not ideal when facing a Yankees team finding their offensive stride. Moore has been 2-1with a 3.30 ERA as he tries to earn a spot in the rotation.