Carlos Rodón (4-2, 3.70 ERA) draws the assignment for New York tonight at 7:20 PM ET, tasked with stopping a Red Sox team that has looked nothing like the 35-46 club the standings say it is. His last outing — 5.1 innings, 6 hits, 3 earned against Detroit — wasn't exactly the kind of performance that inspires confidence heading into a must-win elimination game of a series.
Gray enters having struck out 11 Rockies in 7 innings of 1-run ball last Monday, running his record to 9-1 with a 2.95 ERA and putting himself squarely in the AL Cy Young conversation. The Yankees' task is to beat a guy that almost nobody has been able to this year — and they're doing it without Aaron Judge (stress fracture, right rib) and Giancarlo Stanton (calf) in the lineup.
What's made this series so ugly for the Yankees is that Boston hasn't needed to do anything extraordinary. Red Sox starters have run off 10 consecutive quality starts heading into tonight — the first time the franchise has done that since 1988 — posting a 1.69 ERA during that stretch. On Saturday, rookie Jake Bennett held New York to 1 run in 6⅓ innings in just his first career start against the Yankees. Masataka Yoshida was slugging .450 for the month of June before he walked up Saturday and homered off Gerrit Cole on the second pitch he saw. The Red Sox are playing their best baseball of the year, against exactly the right opponent, at exactly the right time.
- Day-To-DayTravis MacGregor SP — MacGregor underwent Tommy John surgery last September and will miss the entire 2019 season, Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com reports.
- 10-Day-ILTrent Grisham CF — Manager Aaron Boone said Saturday that Grisham (hamstring) is expected to return from the injured list during New York's upcoming homestand, Chris Kirschner of The Athletic reports.
- 10-Day-ILRyan McMahon 3B — The Yankees placed McMahon on the 10-day injured list Wednesday due to a throat infection.
- 10-Day-ILGiancarlo Stanton DH — The Yankees announced that Stanton (calf) reinjured his calf and will have a slow week of activities, Bryan Hoch of MLB.com reports.
- 10-Day-ILAaron Judge RF — The Yankees announced Thursday that Judge has a stress fracture of his first rib on his right side and will be sidelined for 4-to-6 weeks before being re-evaluated, Bryan Hoch of MLB.com reports.
- 15-Day-ILMax Fried SP — Manager Aaron Boone said Saturday that Fried (elbow) is expected to begin facing hitters by late June or early July, Erik Boland of Newsday reports.
- 60-Day-ILClarke Schmidt SP — Schmidt (elbow) tossed a side session Wednesday and is "a couple of weeks" away from facing live hitters, per MLB.com.
- Day-To-DayHobie Harris RP — Harris was optioned to Triple-A Rochester on Saturday, Jesse Dougherty of The Washington Post reports.
- 10-Day-ILIsiah Kiner-Falefa 2B — Kiner-Falefa underwent a CT scan on his left forearm Thursday which revealed a stress reaction, MLB.com reports.
- 10-Day-ILMarcelo Mayer 2B — The Red Sox placed Mayer on the 10-day injured list Friday with a stress reaction in his left forearm, Mac Cerullo of the Boston Herald reports.
- 10-Day-ILRoman Anthony LF — Interim manager Chad Tracy said Wednesday that Anthony (finger/wrist) hasn't made any substantive progress in his recovery back in Boston since the Red Sox began their road trip last weekend, Tim Healey of The Boston Globe reports.
- 10-Day-ILNick Sogard 3B — Sogard (oblique) told reporters Friday that he plans to start swinging a bat Monday, Gabrielle Starr of the Boston Herald reports.
- 15-Day-ILJovani Moran RP — Moran (elbow) will make at least one more rehab appearance before being activated, MLB.com reports.
- 60-Day-ILRomy Gonzalez 1B — Interim manager Chad Tracy said that Gonzalez (shoulder) won't be activated off the injured list before Saturday's game against the Yankees, Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com reports.
- 60-Day-ILGarrett Crochet SP — Crochet (shoulder/lat) has not yet been cleared to resume a throwing program following a scheduled re-evaluation Monday, Tim Healey of The Boston Globe reports.
New York is still a 48-34 club and not in danger of falling out of the AL East picture — but losing 4 straight to a sub-.500 team, scoring 5 combined runs in the process, would be a rough way to head into the second half. Rodón needs to be sharp. The Yankees offense needs to wake up. If Gray is dealing the way he has been since April, neither of those things is likely to happen. First pitch is at 7:20 PM ET.