The NY Yankees and Detroit Tigers are playing on the MLB schedule on Monday to open a series at Comerica Park and the game is on ESPN and streaming from the WatchESPN website online at 7 pm ET as the American League rivals matchup and the pitching duel has CC Sabathia against Alfredo Simon.
The Yankees come in a bit hot after sweeping out the Rays this weekend in three games and now they are at .500 after a slow start and could keep things going. The Yankees are currently this in the American League east and they snapped a two game losing streak with the wins against the Rays. The team scored 19 runs in three games and Alex Rodriguez looked very good while hitting some home runs.
Simon comes in after having a strong start to the season and he is now 2-0 with a 2.03 ERA after being 6-1 with a 1.72 ERA last year in April. The Tigers need the rotation to stay strong, as they have Justin Verlander injured and Max Scherzer gone. David Price has done his part and now Simon gets the chance in his first home matchup for the team. The Tigers rotation is already 8-2 and they have been impressive even without Scherzer, Verlander and Rick Porcello, who is in Boston.
Simon has lost all three times he has faced the Yankees and the Tigers come in with a 10-2 record and they have been one of the best in the MLB. Jacoby Ellsbury has good numbers against the Tigers in his last eight games against the team and the Yankees would love it if he could start heating up. Chase Headley and Mark Teixeira had RBIs in the win against the Rays and the Yanks need to keep scoring runs, as that was their biggest issue last season.
The rotation has question marks, but both Masahiro Tanaka and CC Sabathia have shown some promising signs for the season. Sabathia was beat up a but in the loss against the Orioles, but he has only one walk in 12 innings this season and that is important. Sabathia has had his fastball speed go down, but it ticked up against the Orioles and that could be a sign that his strength is coming back.
Victor Martinez has a long hitting streak against the Yankees and they will try and shut him down. The Yankees won four of seven games last season in the series against the Tigers and now they have the chance to get started on the right foot on the road in Detroit. Carlos Beltran has been dealing with a cold and he could return and this comes after Garrett Jones started for him and had three hits in the game against the Rays.
Check here for the NY Yankees and Detroit Tigers live coverage.