MLB Game Preview - Houston at NY Yankees

Sat Jun 22, 2019 7:15 PM EDT

The New York Yankees are putting together an impressive power display of late, especially when catcher Gary Sanchez and second baseman Gleyber Torres make contact.

Both players have homered in three straight games, the Yankees have homered in 24 consecutive games, and they have matched a season-best with seven straight wins.

Sanchez and Torres will attempt to keep their streaks going while the Yankees attempt to make it eight straight wins and 25 consecutive games with a homer Saturday night when they host the Houston Astros at Yankee Stadium.

Sanchez has caught up with new teammate Edwin Encarnacion in leading the American League with 23 homers while Torres is up to 18 homers after both connected for two-run homers in Friday's 4-1 win. According to the YES Network, Sanchez and Torres are the first Yankees teammates to homer in three straight games together.

"In Gary's case, it's elite special power, and Gleyber, I think because he's a middle infielder, I think always surprises people," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. "He hits the ball, it's about 10 feet further than you think it's going to go, and he can do it to all fields. So I think it's a product of two guys doing a good job swinging at their pitch, and when they do get a pitch to do damage with, they're not missing it."

Now the Yankees get a chance at eight straight wins for the first time since winning nine in a row from April 21-29, 2018, and also can tie the team record set from June 1-29, 1941, for consecutive games with a homer.

The Yankees also continued to win as Aaron Judge returned from missing two months with a strained left oblique. Judge went 0-for-4 while batting leadoff, but like the rest of the Yankees, he enjoyed the power display by Sanchez and Torres.

"Just two impressive hitters, it's always fun to watch and always fun to play in that lineup with them," Judge said.

Houston is attempting to avoid its first seven-game losing streak since June 4-10, 2015. The Astros will be hoping to produce better in clutch situations after getting 19 hits in the first two games but going only 3-for-21 with runners in scoring position.

During their losing streak, the Astros are batting .136 (6 for 44) with runners in scoring position, and they have scored three runs or less in five games in this skid.

"We're not hitting with runners in scoring position," Houston right fielder Josh Reddick said. Those big hits, we can't seem to come across like we have been in the past all year. It just keeps carrying over and carrying over. We'll get out of it. It's obviously frustrating and upsetting the way we're going, but we know we're going to come out of it."

Masahiro Tanaka (5-5, 3.23 ERA) will start for the Yankees and is coming off a dominating two-hitter in Monday's 3-0 win over Tampa Bay when he struck out 10. Tanaka is attempting to win three straight starts for the first time this season.

Tanaka is 0-2 with a 7.36 ERA in six career starts against Houston.

Wade Miley (6-4, 3.52) starts for Houston and last pitched in Monday's 3-2 loss in Cincinnati when he allowed three runs on four hits in 4 1/3 innings. He pitched four scoreless innings before faltering in the fifth.

Miley is 0-4 with a 5.86 ERA in 10 career starts against the Yankees.

--Field Level Media