The NY Yankees and Cincinnati Reds are playing an interleague baseball series on Friday night coming out of the break and the game at Yankee Stadium has the Yanks trying to pull into playoff position and the Reds are trying to do the same in the NL and the matchup stars at 7:05 pm ET and has David Phelps matching up with Mike Leake on the mound.

The Yankees are coming into the second half looking to get back into the mix in the wild card and the division, but it will be very hard with the injuries they have. The pitching has been a mess and they are now without Masahiro Tanaka after he was hurt and he could be out for the season, while CC Sabathia looks like he could be done for his career. Brian McCann and Carlos Beltran have basically done nothing halfway through the season for the Yankees and this could be the first time in 20 years that the team misses the playoffs in back to back seasons.

The Yankees are even right now in their record and they are five games back in the AL East and 3.5 games back of the Seattle Mariners in the wild card race. The Angels appear to have the first spot locked up and now everyone is chasing the Mariners. There is a big series coming up between the M's and the Angels and everyone in the AL is rooting for the Angels, as the Yankees, Royals, Indians and White Sox are looking to gain ground on the Mariners.

Reds star Todd Frazier looks to continue his strong play and he loves playing at Yankee Stadium, as he is from New Jersey and once had a moment there with Derek Jeter. Frazier won the Little League World Series as a kid and his team was honored in the Bronx and he stood with Jeter over a decade ago and now after facing him in Minnesota in the All-Star game, he is back in the Bronx for another visit.

The Yankees last lost to the Baltimore Orioles a week ago and that had Chase Whitley on the mound and now they matchup with the Reds. The team has to face the 12-3 Alberto Simon on Saturday and that afternoon game will have Brandon McCarthy also on the mound for his second start for the Yankees. The team comes in ranked 22nd in runs scored this season and 15th in batting average and they have been mostly unimpressive hitting the ball all year. The Yankees are pretty bad and this series here is huge heading into the back stretch of the season, as the team is teetering on contention and falling out, as the ERA is 20th in the league and they need some strong pitching down the stretch.

Check here for the NY Yankees and Cincinnati Reds live coverage from MLB.