Miami @ New York preview
Yankee Stadium
Last Meeting ( Jun 16, 2015 ) NY Yankees 2, Miami 12
Giancarlo Stanton and the Miami Marlins are heating up this month while the New York Yankees barely got out of the blocks en route to losing their fifth game in six outings. After winning the first two contests of this four-game, home-and-home series, the Marlins attempt to reel in their sixth victory in seven outings overall when the clubs reconvene at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday.
Stanton, who belted his major league-leading 24th homer in Miami's lopsided 12-2 rout Tuesday, has gone deep nine times and recorded 18 of his league-best 62 RBIs in June. The slugger will likely serve as his team's designated hitter in his trip to Yankee Stadium, telling reporters that he respects "the tradition they have there, the whole aura, the whole New York atmosphere." While the Marlins outscored their foes 30-9 during their six-game homestand, New York limps back to the Bronx hoping to regain the form that saw it win seven in a row before its latest troubles. Miami native Alex Rodriguez sat out Tuesday's contest and remains five hits shy of 3,000 for his career.
TV: 7:05 p.m. ET, FSN Florida (Miami), YES (New York)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Marlins RH Jose Urena (1-2, 4.44 ERA) vs. Yankees RH Michael Pineda (7-3, 3.74)
Urena recorded his first career victory Friday after allowing one run on six hits in 6 2/3 innings in a 5-1 triumph over Colorado. The 23-year-old Dominican also pitched well in his previous meeting with the Rockies on June 7, permitting one run on three hits in six frames en route to a no-decision. Urena makes his fifth major-league start as Miami's rotation continues to be handcuffed by injuries.
Pineda, pitching on 10 days' rest, was blitzed for six runs on nine hits in a season-low 4 1/3 innings en route to an 11-3 setback versus Baltimore on Friday. A three-run homer by Chris Davis served as the big blow against the 26-year-old Dominican, who has been taken deep five times in the last six turns after yielding just two homers in his previous six games. Pineda is 3-1 with a 2.54 ERA in six home starts this season.
WALK-OFFS
1. Veteran OF Ichiro Suzuki is expected to play in his return to Yankee Stadium for the first time since signing with Miami in January.
2. New York OF Jacoby Ellsbury (knee) is not ready to participate in rehab games and is unlikely to rejoin the team this month, according to manager Joe Girardi.
3. Miami INF Derek Dietrich, who had two hits during Miami's eight-run first inning Tuesday, improved to 4-for-7 with three runs scored and two RBIs in the series.
PREDICTION: Yankees 4, Marlins 2