When & Where To Watch
Friday: Coverage on YES & the YES App begins at 6 p.m. with Yankees Batting Practice Today
Saturday: Coverage on YES & the YES App begins at 12 p.m. with Yankees Batting Practice Today
Sunday: Coverage on YES & the YES App begins at 12:30 p.m. with Yankees Batting Practice Today
Monday: Coverage on YES & the YES App begins at 12:30 p.m. with the Pregame Show
Pinstriped Pulse
As they come out of the All-Star break, the 58-40 Yankees have the third-best record in the American League and are within one game of first-place Baltimore in the AL East. Aaron Judge, Juan Soto and Clay Holmes represented the Yanks in Arlington, with Soto delivering a two-run hustle double off San Francisco’s Logan Webb in the AL’s 5-3 win. Judge returns to play batting .306 for the season with 34 home runs, 85 RBIs and a 1.112 OPS, all tops in the Majors. Soto ranks third in OPS at .985 – he is batting .295 this year with 23 homers, 66 RBIs and an MLB-high 79 walks. Rookie Ben Rice’s go-ahead three-run homer last Sunday in the ninth inning against the Orioles gave him 15 RBI since July 4, the most in baseball.
How ‘Bout That
In the midst of an MVP-caliber season, Judge continues to put up prolific numbers. His 34 homers were the most ever for a Yankee prior to the All-Star break, surpassing the previous record of 33, a mark he earned a share of in his historic 62-homer campaign two years ago by matching the pre-ASB total Roger Maris hit during his own record-breaking season of 1961.
Know The Foe
The 48-48 Rays are 5.5 games out of a Wild Card spot, and since they are 10 games out of first place in the AL East, it appears at this time that a Wild Card will be their only potential avenue to the postseason. Isaac Paredes, whose 15 homers and 50 RBI lead the team, was Tampa Bay’s only representative in the All-Star Game. Yandy Díaz is batting .342 with a couple of home runs over 38 at-bats against the Yankees this season. José Caballero leads the AL with 24 stolen bases, although he has also been caught stealing an MLB-high 11 times.
Probable Starters
Gerrit Cole will start the series opener Friday night opposite Zach Eflin. Nestor Cortes is lined up to take the hill tomorrow opposite Taj Bradley – with a mark of 1.81 in the Bronx this year, Cortes has the third-best home ERA in the American League. Marcus Stroman and Shane Baz are scheduled to go on Sunday, with Baz making his third start back from Tommy John surgery after throwing 68 pitches against the Yanks at Tropicana Field last Thursday in his second outing. Carlos Rodón and Zack Littell will take the mound in Monday’s series finale.
Major League Cricket Featuring MI New York
Led by team captain Kieron Pollard and 25-year-old superstar Rashid Khan, MI New York has one match left in the 2024 Major League Cricket regular season! They will face the Los Angeles Knight Riders on Sunday at 8:30 p.m. in a matchup you can watch on YES and the YES App. It is going to be a big match as both teams are still fighting to reach the postseason!
Summer League Basketball
The Nets are finishing up their Summer League schedule in Las Vegas! Being coached there by Steve Hetzel, a recent hire added to the staff of Jordi Fernández, youngsters like Jalen Wilson, Dariq Whitehead and Noah Clowney have been making strides in their development. Wilson in particular has been doing serious work, averaging 24.3 points over his first four games including a 33-point outing in Thursday’s overtime win against the Magic.