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 Tanaka has reeled off six consecutive victories for the best
start by a Yankees rookie pitcher since Whitey Ford went 9-0 in
1950. Both Chicago hits in last month’s contests were bunt singles –
by Junior Lake and Anthony Rizzo – as Tanaka was virtually
unhittable. Despite entering the series with back-to-back victories,
the Cubs possess the worst record in the majors at 15-27 while New
York leads the American League East after winning four of its last
five outings.
TV: 8:05 p.m. ET, WWOR (New York), WGN (Chicago)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Yankees RH Masahiro Tanaka (6-0, 2.17 ERA) vs.
Cubs RH Jason Hammel (4-2, 3.06)
Tanaka threw his first career shutout when he stymied the New York
Mets on four hits in his last turn. He has had little trouble
adjusting to facing major-league hitters and has 66 strikeouts
against seven walks in 58 innings. Counting his tenure in Japan,
Tanaka is 34-0 over his last 42 starts.
Hammel also opposed Tanaka in last month’s contest and allowed three
runs and five hits in seven innings. He is winless in his last three
starts and gave up five runs and five hits in 5 1/3 innings while
losing to St. Louis in his last turn. Hammel is 3-4 with a 5.04 ERA
in 18 career appearances (12 starts) against the Yankees.
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WALK-OFFS
1. New York, which is playing at Wrigley Field for the first time
since 2011, has won seven of the past eight meetings with the Cubs.
2. Yankees OF Brett Gardner is 10-for-27 with two homers and seven
RBIs over the last seven games.
3. Cubs rookie 3B Mike Olt has eight hits in May – and five of them
are homers.
PREDICTION: Yankees 5, Cubs 0
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