MLB Game Preview - Texas at NY Yankees

Wed Sep 4, 2019 6:35 PM EDT

In a span of two days, the New York Yankees followed getting shut out by resuming their normal procedure of hitting plenty of pitches into the seats.

After socking five homers Tuesday, the Yankees hope to keep the offense flowing Wednesday night when they host the Texas Rangers in the rubber game of a three-game set.

The Yankees have won seven of their past nine games after rolling to a 10-1 rout Tuesday. That came after New York was held to six hits by Mike Minor and two relievers in a 7-0 loss on Monday, ending the second-longest streak with a run at 220 games.

On Tuesday, Gary Sanchez hit two homers while Didi Gregorius hit a three-run homer. Brett Gardner also connected, as did Edwin Encarnacion, who returned from the injured list and became the 13th Yankee to hit 10 homers this season.

New York is up to 261 homers and is six away from matching the team record for homers set last season.

Sanchez is up to 34 homers and has five in his past six games. He also set New York's single-season record for homers by a catcher.

"This is what he's capable of," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said of Sanchez. "When he's locked in, when he's controlling the zone, he's as deadly as anyone, and it's good to see him doing that."

Texas was held to three hits Tuesday and continued to struggle on the road.

The Rangers are 28-43 on the road and 9-18 on the road since the All-Star break. Texas also is 0-8-2 in its past 10 road series since a three-game sweep in Detroit, June 25-27.

Since the Rangers were facing left-hander James Paxton, left-handed hitters Nomar Mazara and Rougned Odor did not play Tuesday, but both will likely be in the lineup Wednesday.

"Prior to today, there are a lot of things we are working on," Texas manager Chris Woodward said of his offense. "We have a pretty young lineup. We are missing pretty important pieces in the middle of the lineup. I'm not freaking out about our offense. There is a lot of growth. There is a lot of learning going on."

Mazara is hitting .357 (10-for-28) in his last 10 games, but Odor is batting .113 (8-for-71) in his past 21 contests.

On Wednesday, Texas starter Lance Lynn (14-9, 3.77 ERA) will attempt to reach 15 wins for the first time since 2014 with St. Louis and the fourth time in his career.

Lynn is 0-3 with a 4.33 ERA in his past five starts. He last pitched Thursday, when he allowed three runs (one earned) on four hits in six innings of a 5-3 loss to Seattle.

Lynn was 3-2 with a 4.14 ERA in 11 appearances (nine starts) for the Yankees last season. He is 1-1 with a 4.26 ERA in two career starts against New York.

Wednesday would have been CC Sabathia's turn in the rotation. However, with the retiring left-hander on the injured list due to right knee inflammation, the Yankees likely will use an opener. Chad Green (2-4, 5.01 ERA) is expected to serve as the opener for the 13th time.

Green has struck out 24 hitters over 15 1/3 innings in his starts and has a 4.70 ERA in those games. He last started on Aug. 15 against Cleveland, when he allowed five runs on four hits while getting one out in the first inning of a 19-5 loss.

--Field Level Media