Arizona heads back home after a 1-5 road trip and now faces the first-place Yankees on national television.
New York Yankees at Arizona Diamondbacks
The New York Yankees captured the latest installment of the Subway series, picking up 4-0 home victory over the Mets behind a sterling performance by ace C.C. Sabathia. 1B Mark Teixeira provided all the offense, hitting his first grand slam as a member of the Yankees. “I didn’t get all of it,” Teixeira said. “I made sure I ran out of the box.” New York leads the Majors with seven grand slams, including two hit earlier on this homestand by catcher Jorge Posada. The club is now 7-5 (-220) against the National League this season and head out on the road hoping to improve upon its 18-16 mark on the road (-330). The Yankees are just an even 3-3 on the year as a road favorite of -150 to -175 (-190).
Yankees SP A.J. Burnett is 6-5 with a 4.33 ERA in 14 starts this season (-50), allowing 10 home runs in 87.1 innings of work. He recorded a 6-3 loss against the Phillies last time out, allowing six earned runs and six hits over 3.1 innings. The right-hander has lost each of his last three starts, tying his longest losing stretch as a Yankee. Burnett owns a 15-8 record and 3.23 ERA in 31 interleague starts, including a 7-6 mark and 3.49 ERA in 14 outings against the NL since 2006 when he joined the AL. He has made five career starts against the Arizona Diamondbacks, tallying a 3-2 record and 3.67 ERA (+220), with an even 1-1 mark and 2.12 ERA at Chase Field.
Arizona fell to 3-6 (-280) during interleague play after falling in defeat to the Detroit Tigers, 3-1, on Sunday afternoon. The loss was the club’s 15th in its last 16 road games and came one day after it picked up its first win away from home since May 17. “This was very, very, very frustrating to say the least,” said Arizona SP Ian Kennedy. The Diamondbacks have been horrendous against the American League since the 2004 season, posting the second-fewest wins against the opposing league behind only the Pirates (30-62). The team faces the toughest group of AL opponents this year among the NL West clubs, with its opponents having a combined winning percentage of .588. One bright spot for the Diamondbacks lately has been their work on the base paths, swiping 13 bags in their last 15 games.
Diamondbacks SP Rodrigo Lopez is 2-6 with a 4.70 ERA in 14 starts this year (-200), allowing 104 hits and issuing 24 walks in 92 frames. Arizona has lost his last five starts, with the offense managing to produce just 13 runs of support over that span. Since an 11-1 win at Atlanta on May 15, he is 0-4 with a 5.85 ERA and .288 opponents average. The veteran right-hander is 1-3 with a 5.40 ERA in seven home starts this season (-50). Lopez has struggled in June over the course of his career, compiling a 10-14 record and 5.59 ERA in 33 appearances (31 starts).
The Yankees are a dismal 9-20 over the last three seasons when on the road with a total of 10 to 10.5 (-1,570). Total players will be interested in the fact the team is 0-3 O/U with the same type of total number this season. On the flip side, the Diamondbacks have gone over the total in all three games this season when playing as a home underdog of +150 to +175.
