The beard steps on the New York stage, looking to sweep the Yankees.
Houston Astros (54-73) at New York Yankees (63-61), 12:05 p.m. (CST)
TV: CSN Houston, MLB.TV
Radio: KBME 790 AM, KLAT 1010 AM
Yankees SBNation Blog: Pinstripe Alley
Pitching matchup
LHP Dallas Keuchel (10-8, 3.11 ERA, 1.22 WHIP) vs. RHP Brandon McCarthy (7-12, 4.24 ERA, 1.35 WHIP)
Preview
The statement was made in comments of yesterday's preview that the Astros shouldn't be called spoilers because they are a better team than the Yankees. The season record shows that, but the simple fact that Yankees are in the playoff hunt and the Astros are not. That makes the Astros spoilers. It doesn't make the last two games any less fun. The Astros are single-handedly sending the New York media into defcon 5 mode with the idea that Derek Jeter won't make it to the playoffs in his final season.
Unfornitionaly for Yankees fans, the Astros saved their best pitcher for last - Dallas Keuchel. Keuchel is less saved and more it's his scheduled start, but you get the point. Keuchel has been far and away the best pitcher of the Astros staff this season. The second half of his season has been a bit of a roller coaster, three straight starts without a quality start then three starts that were lights out. Keuchel has been on a downturn again in his last two starts, giving eight runs over his last 13 innings. He held Boston to three runs over seven innings in his last start.
Keuchel was not at the top the rotation to start the season and missed the Yankees the first go around. This will be his first time faces New York. Former Padre Chase Headly is 2-for-3 against Keuchel.
Twitter-friendly Brandon McCarthy takes the mound for the Yankees after starting the season with the Diamondbacks. The change of scenery has been good for him, as he is 4-2 with the Yankees compared to 3-10 in the desert. McCarthy faced the Astros on June 11, giving up five earned runs over six innings.
Chris Carter is 2-for-3 with two home runs in his career against McCarthy.