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New York Yankees vs. Tampa Bay Rays: Jordan Montgomery vs. Shane McClanahan

If you thought you saw a Yankees lineup with two left fielders in it, no, you weren’t seeing things; fortunately, they’re not actually playing that way.

By John Griffin
MLB: Chicago White Sox at New York Yankees Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

A victory, at last! With an eleventh-inning, walk-off home run last night, Clint Frazier broke the Yankees’ lengthy losing streak, which began sometime during the reign of the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius. Today, they try to turn that losing streak into a winning streak.

Jordan Montgomery (2-1, 4.22 ERA, 3.69 FIP) will get the ball for the Yankees, in what will be his fourth start of the season against the Rays. His first three starts against Tampa Bay have been mixed: he gave up four earned runs apiece in the first two, but limited the Rays to only one run on two hits in six innings on May 11, striking out nine in the process. This is the first time, however, that he has faced them since Tampa Bay’s offensive explosion during the latter’s 16-1 stretch that ended yesterday.

The Rays will be sending out rookie phenom Shane McClanahan (2-0, 3.29 ERA, 2.98 FIP). He is coming off his best start of his young career, having blanked the Royals and limiting them to just three hits in five innings on May 27th. This will be the first time the Yankees face the lefty in the regular season, although they did get a glimpse of him during last season’s ALDS; he faced nine batters over 1.2 innings, striking out two, and giving up a home run to Giancarlo Stanton.

The Yankees lineup that he will be facing is one of the more unique ones that we’ve seen this season. With a tough lefty on the mound, Aaron Boone has opted to sit both Brett Gardner and Tyler Wade, turning to star right fielder Aaron Judge to man center field; he has one game of Major League experience at the position — March 31, 2018, against Toronto — to go with 11 more in the minors. He will be flanked in the outfield by Miguel Andújar and Clint Frazier, so, Monty, it might be better to keep the ball on the ground in this one.

How to watch

Location: Yankee Stadium — Bronx, NY

First pitch: 7:05 pm ET

TV broadcast: YES, Bally Sports Sun

Radio broadcast: WFAN 660/101.9 FM, WADO 1280

Online stream: MLB.tv, ESPN+

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Let’s Go Yankees!

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