New York @ Miami preview

Last Meeting ( Mar 28, 2014 ) Miami 0, NY Yankees 3

The New York Yankees salvaged the finale of a three-game series over the weekend and managed to escape with their share of first place in the American League East intact. The Yankees will try to maintain their position at the top of the heap when they visit the Miami Marlins for the start of a four-game, home-and-home interleague series on Monday.

New York is tied with the Tampa Bay Rays atop the East with hard-charging Toronto and Baltimore lurking close behind. The Yankees dropped the first two at the Orioles over the weekend but pulled out a 5-3 win in the finale as Mark Teixeira continued his remarkable comeback campaign with an RBI double and a run scored. The Marlins began their homestand by taking three of four from the Colorado Rockies but could not pull off the sweep while falling 4-1 on Sunday. Miami slugger Giancarlo Stanton went homerless on Sunday but has left the yard five times during a seven-game hitting streak.

TV: 7:10 p.m. ET, WPIX (New York), FSN Florida (Miami)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Yankees RH Masahiro Tanaka (4-1, 2.48 ERA) vs. Marlins RH Tom Koehler (4-4, 4.00)

Tanaka has been brilliant in two starts since coming off the disabled list, allowing a total of two runs and eight hits in 14 innings to earn back-to-back wins. The Japan native struck out 15 without walking a batter in those two outings. Tanaka breezed past another NL East foe when he held Washington to one run in seven frames on Tuesday.

Koehler has been up and down of late and is coming off a loss at Toronto in which he was rocked for six runs (five earned) on eight hits in 6 2/3 innings. That followed a start in which the Bronx, New York native allowed one run in seven frames at Colorado. Koehler is 2-1 with a 1.57 ERA in six games – five starts – at home this season.

WALK-OFFS

1. Marlins 3B Martin Prado (shoulder) left Sunday’s game and is day-to-day.

2. Miami 2B Dee Gordon went 2-for-5 on Sunday to boost his batting average to .354.

3. New York DH and Miami native Alex Rodriguez needs five hits to reach 3,000 for his career.

PREDICTION: Yankees 5, Marlins 2