Houston @ New York preview

Last Meeting ( Jun 28, 2015 ) NY Yankees 1, Houston 3

The Houston Astros still aren’t hitting very well, but the pitching is more than making up for the offensive slump. The Astros will try to take some of the pressure off their pitching staff when they visit the New York Yankees on Monday for the opener of a key three-game series.

Houston leads the American League West by four games over the Texas Rangers after pulling off a three-game sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers with a 3-2 win on Jason Castro’s walk-off homer in the 10th inning on Sunday. That marked the seventh straight game in which the Astros failed to score more than three runs, but they are 5-2 in that span. The Yankees dropped a 4-3 decision on Sunday and lost three of four to the Cleveland Indians over the weekend to fall a half-game behind the Toronto Blue Jays for first place in the AL East. New York will send Houston native Nathan Eovaldi to the mound while the Astros try to improve upon a 24-35 road record behind veteran Scott Feldman.

TV: 7:05 p.m. ET, MLB Network, ROOT (Houston), WPIX (New York)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Astros RH Scott Feldman (5-5, 4.05 ERA) vs. Yankees RH Nathan Eovaldi (13-2, 4.24)

Feldman has allowed three or fewer runs in each of his last five starts and scattered two runs and nine hits over seven innings in a no-decision against Tampa Bay on Tuesday. The 32-year-old is 1-0 in his last five outings, with the lone triumph coming with six scoreless innings at San Francisco on Aug. 12. Feldman is 5-4 with a 3.45 ERA in 12 career games – 10 starts – against New York.

Eovaldi has not lost since getting ripped for eight runs in two-thirds of an inning at Miami on June 16 and is coming off a win over Minnesota on Wednesday. The Texan was reached for three runs on four hits and a pair of walks while striking out eight – his most k’s since punching out nine at Baltimore on April 15. Eovaldi allowed two runs and five hits in six innings to earn a win at Houston on June 26.

WALK-OFFS

1. Astros 3B Jed Lowrie left Sunday’s game with a bruised right thumb and is day-to-day.

2. Yankees CF Jacoby Ellsbury has recorded multiple hits in six of his last nine games.

3. Houston RF George Springer (fractured wrist) is expected to take live batting practice on Monday or Tuesday for the first time since hitting the disabled list on July 2.

PREDICTION: Yankees 4, Astros 2