New York Yankees Vs. New York Mets: Lineups, preview, & prediction (June 8, 2018)

(Photo credit: Slgckgc)

The Yankees had Thursday off after a 13-inning, 3-0 win over the Blue Jays. The win gave them a two-game series sweep, and makes them 7-1 in their last eight games. The game was scoreless until the 13th, with Sonny Gray and Sam Gaviglio going deep before handing the game over to the bullpen. It broke open in the 13th with a two-run bomb from Aaron Judge and then a solo shot from Giancarlo Stanton.

The Mets too had Thursday off. They come into today's game on the back of a six game losing streak that includes sweeps against the Cubs and Orioles. Last night's loss to the O's was a disappointing 1-0 failure as Dylan Bundy and Zack Wheeler dueled it out for seven innings before handing a 0-0 game over to the bullpens. Jeurys Familia ended up being the weak link on the mound, as he allowed two hits and then a sacrifice fly from Manny Machado to score the only run.

Masahiro Tanaka (RHP) Vs. Jacob deGrom (RHP)

Tanaka has struggled of late. He's added nearly half a run to his ERA since the start of May, and has given up at least three runs in five of his last six starts. None of them have been totally awful, and the Yankees have won all of them but the rain-delayed game in Washington, but Tanaka has not had the bounce-back season the Yankees hoped he would.

Jacob deGrom has been in terrific form this year. His 1.49 ERA leads the National League, and his 98 strikeouts are third. He comes into today's game on the back of a monstrous seven-inning, 13 strikeout start against the Cubs. He hasn't given up more than one run in his last eight starts. While Max Scherzer is the favorite for the NL Cy Young once again, deGrom has been in Cy Young form this year.

Projected lineups

Who's hot, and who's not

Miguel Andujar and Brett Gardner are in good form for the Yankees of late. The third baseman is hitting .378 over the last two weeks with a pair of homers, while Gardner has three bombs to go along with a .362 average. They are the only regulars hitting consistently right now though. While Stanton and Judge are mashing homers, they are hitting .205 and .233 respectively, and Gary Sanchez has been a mess, with just four hits in the last two weeks.

There aren't many hot bats for the Mets right now. Brandon Nimmo has four homers and a .278 average over the last two weeks, and both Michael Conforto and Asdrubal Cabrera have three homers a piece in the same time span. But while no one is red hot, no one is ice cold either. Luis Guillorme has just a .182 average over the last two weeks, and Adrian Gonzalez is under .200 as well, but that's it.

Prediction

It is tough to pick against deGrom in the form he's in, but then the Mets are just 5-7 in games he started. The Yankees are one of the best teams in baseball and sit on a 40-18 record while the Mets are a below .500 team. While most would be sure the Yankees will win easily, I wouldn't be surprised if deGrom can keep the Yankees bats at bay and at least hand the game over to the bullpen in good shape.