The New York Yankees are currently in mid-season form as they look to extend their win streak to eight games on Wednesday. The team has been one of the hottest teams in baseball at the moment as they get players back from the disabled list and their pitching starts to thrive. The Washington Nationals have been their latest victim as the team aims to bounce back with an afternoon matchup.
The Yankees are in the middle of their longest win streak of the season thanks to Masahiro Tanaka and Stephen Drew who knocked out two home runs on Tuesday night. He is currently hitting .292 in his last seven games while home runs are becoming the norm for him at the plate. Brian McCann and Mark Teixeira are following suit. McCann is 6 for 12 in his last three games, pushing the Yankees further.
Nathan Eovaldi will take the mound to keep the wins coming. He is 5-1 with a 4.16 ERA on the season. His last start against Washington was rough after allowing five runs in four innings. In eight career starts against the Nationals, he is just 2-4 with a 5.32 ERA. He will be forced to go up against Bryce Harper who is one of the hottest hitters at the moment. He knocked out his 20th home run of the season on Tuesday. He is 6 for 14 against Eovaldi. The pitcher has bounced back in recent weeks. He is 2-0 with a 2.65 ERA in his last three starts.
Gio Gonzalez will take the mound for the Washington Nationals who is 4-3 with a 4.57 ERA while being 1-5 with a 7.30 ERA in seven starts against the Yankees. The Nationals are slumping at the moment in terms of wins. They have lost three straight while losing nine of their last 11 games. The starting pitching has not been great with a 5.59 ERA while the offense is averaging just 2.50 runs in a 5-11 stretch. Gonzalez might not help the effort. He averages 5.84 walks per nine innings against the Yankees which is two higher than his career average.
The Nationals simply need to get players out of their slump. Denard Span is expected to miss the matchup due to back spasms. Harper is getting production, but Ryan Zimmerman is just 1-for-25 at the moment and needs a breakout game.