New York @ Atlanta preview

Last Meeting ( Mar 18, 2015 ) NY Yankees 12, Atlanta 5

The New York Yankees are letting the American League East slip away and are searching for answers to some sudden problems on both sides of the ball. The Yankees will try to break out of their funk when they open a six-game road trip with a visit to the Atlanta Braves on Friday.

New York dropped five of the final seven games of its just-completed homestand and averaged 2.6 runs in that span. The drought, combined with a pitching staff that allowed a total of 21 runs in back-to-back losses to the Houston Astros to end the trip, has the Yankees 1 1/2 games behind the Toronto Blue Jays in the AL East. The Yankees’ woes pale in comparison to those of the Braves, who have allowed an average of 6.1 runs while dropping nine of their last 10 games. Rookie Williams Perez will try to end a six-start winless streak when he takes the mound for Atlanta in the opener opposite New York’s Masahiro Tanaka.

TV: 7:35 p.m. ET, YES (New York), FSN South (Atlanta)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Yankees RH Masahiro Tanaka (9-6, 3.61 ERA) vs. Braves RH Williams Perez (4-4, 4.76)

Tanaka twirled a complete-game gem in a win over the Blue Jays on Aug. 15 but was less effective against Cleveland last Friday. The Japan native allowed four runs (three earned) and seven hits in six innings to absorb the loss – his third in the last five starts. Tanaka is making his first start against Atlanta and is 1-1 with a 1.93 ERA in two interleague starts this season.

Perez is sporting a 6.88 ERA over his last six starts and failed to make it through the fifth inning in three of those turns. The Venezuelan was ripped for six runs and eight hits in 4 2/3 innings at the Chicago Cubs on Saturday without factoring in the decision. Perez has made three starts against AL opponents and went 1-1 while allowing a total of three runs in 19 innings against Boston and Tampa Bay (twice).

WALK-OFFS

1. New York CF Jacoby Ellsbury (hip) sat out Wednesday and is day-to-day.

2. Yankees C Brian McCann, who grew up in Georgia and began his career with the Braves before leaving as a free agent after 2013, will make his first appearance as a visitor in Atlanta.

3. New York DH Alex Rodriguez is batting .138 in August and could be reduced to a pinch-hitting role in the NL park.

PREDICTION: Yankees 6, Braves 3