Game Preview: New York Yankees vs. Minnesota Twins 8/19

The New York Yankees and the Minnesota Twins will finish off their three game set this afternoon in a day game at Yankee Stadium. This series has been fun to watch but it’s been costly for the Yankees after the team lost Bryan Mitchell to a nasal fracture and Mark Teixeira for a few days with a leg bruise while the entire bullpen has been spent and overworked once again. The Yankees need length and they need a laugher and unfortunately the team is only likely to get one of those two scenarios this afternoon with Nathan Eovaldi on the mound. Eovaldi has pitched well lately and the Yankees give him almost seven runs of support per game but length is not his specialty. Opposing Eovaldi in the Bronx this afternoon is Ervin Santana for the Twins. The game will be played at 1:05 pm ET and can be seen on the YES Network, MLB Network and MLB TV.

• Eovaldi has received amazing run support this season and has given the Yankees 12 victories in return to just two losses. Eovaldi has not given the Yankees much length this season but his longest start of the year came back on July 26^th against these same Minnesota Twins where he pitched eight innings allowing just two runs and eight hits.

• Santana has not looked stellar in many of his eight starts since returning from his 80-game steroid suspension. Santana has allowed five or more runs in four of those starts causing his ERA to rise all the way to 5.66. Santana will knock the rust off eventually, I just hope that it isn’t this afternoon against the Yankees.

The Yankees will stay home tomorrow to begin a four game series with those pesky Cleveland Indians in the Bronx. New York also continues HOPE Week this week thus proving that the team truly is the “Evil Empire,” a moniker given to them by the Boston Red Sox in the mid-2000’s. I just want to take a second before the game to attempt to put into words how proud I am to be a fan of this team, especially during HOPE Week. Anyway, Go Yankees!