New York Yankees vs. Toronto Blue Jays: Sonny Gray vs Sam Gaviglio

Stop me if you’ve heard this before: hopefully Sonny Gray can build off his recent strong start tonight.

It has been a recurring theme in 2018 for the Yankee righthander; he has a good game that fills folks with a lot of optimism, and follows it up with a stinker. Last Friday he threw six innings of one run ball with six strikeouts against the Orioles, and we’d all like to see that happen again against a vulnerable Blue Jays lineup.

Toronto’s among the weakest offensive teams in baseball, 26th in OBP at .307 and 21st with a 93 wRC+. If Gray is going to build any kind of momentum in what’s been a stop-and-start season for him, this is the ideal opponent to make that happen. Look for him to continue to rely on his breaking pitches; in his last two good starts against Baltimore and Kansas City, he threw a slider 29.1% of the time, well above his season average of 17.2%.

Opposing him will be Sam Gaviglio, a relative newcomer to the Bluebirds. He hasn’t been great, but attacks the strike zone and doesn’t walk many batters. The Yankees better be ready to come out swinging against Gaviglio.

Aaron Judge finds himself back in the lineup following a much-needed day off yesterday. Hopefully he was able to clear his head and put Monday’s...experience behind him.

First pitch comes at 7:07pm EDT, on YES and WFAN.