First pitch: Friday, 7:05 p.m. ET
Line: New York -120, Los Angeles +110, Total: 8

The New York Yankees look to continue their momentum from a recent series sweep when they host the Los Angeles Angels in the Bronx on Friday night.

The Angels may not be having the season that they were hoping for, but they have been playing very well of late with wins in five of their last seven games, and sit in second in the AL West; 5.5-games behind the Houston Astros. They did have a four-game winning streak going when they headed into a series against the Rays to start the week, but after winning the first game by a score of 7-3, were defeated in the next two. In the rubber match on Wednesday, they gave up an early four-run lead, eventually tying it back up in the bottom of the ninth, but ultimately taking a 6-5 loss in extras. They were a mere 3-for-13 with RISP in the loss as OF Mike Trout (.286) hit his third homer in the last five games. On the other side of the diamond, things were looking great for the Yankees as they sat in first place before going on a seven-game West Coast road trip and were slated to play the last place Athletics to start. Unfortunately, that series did not go as planned with losses in three of the four games as they put up a meager 11 runs in the set. They turned it all around with a sweep in Seattle, though, and after a 3-1 victory on Wednesday were able to come back home with their lead in the AL East still intact. In the game, they backed a huge outing (7 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 9 K) from the newly reinstated Masahiro Tanaka with homers from both 1B Mark Teixeira (.241) and OF Garrett Jones (258). Teixeira has had a nice bounce-back season from his injury plagued 2014 and is riding a five-game hitting streak as he leads the league in RBI (41) and is second in HR (16). Veteran RHP Jered Weaver (4-4, 4.08 ERA) will take the mound for the visitors in this one as he goes up against RHP Nathan Eovaldi (4-1, 4.40 ERA) for New York. Los Angeles can’t be too happy going back out on the road as they are 12-13 when away from home and will be going against this Yankees club which is 12-10 in front of their fans. New York has had an advantage in this matchup since the start of 2013, going 8-5 overall and have done well in the Bronx with a 5-2 record in that time. They have yet to meet this year, but the Bombers were able to win 4-of-6 games in 2014. Some trends to watch in this one include that L.A. is 25-12 (.676) in road games after having lost two of its last three games in the past two seasons as the Yankees are 90-74 (.549) after two or more consecutive road games in the last three years. OF Collin Cowgill (Wrist) is the only offensive player out for the Angels as New York has C Brian McCann (Foot) questionable with OFs Jacoby Ellsbury (Knee) and Slade Heathcott (Quad) currently on the DL.

Weaver has been the rock for this L.A. team for a long time and he has had double-digit victories in each of his nine seasons since coming into the league, averaging 14.6 wins per year, and has had a 3.75 ERA or better in six consecutive seasons. Unfortunately, his dominance has fallen by the wayside with his average fastball dropping each successive year since he threw 90.1 MPH in 2010 and sits at a low 85.1 MPH in 2015. As the velocity declines, his ERA continues to rise and his strikeouts have dropped to a putrid 4.8 K/9 while still showing tremendous control (1.3 BB/9). His recent starts have been much better than those at the start of the year and he has earned a quality outing with his team getting a victory in the last five times on the mound. During that period he has totaled 36.1 IP with eight runs allowed on 28 hits and a 23:5 K/BB ratio. In his career against the Yanks, he is 7-4 (10-5 team record) with a 5.46 ERA (1.40 WHIP) and is 1-2 over his last three starts facing them with 15 runs given up in 19 frames. Plenty of New York batters have seen Weaver a ton and 3B Alex Rodriguez (9-for-26, 2 doubles, 5 HR, 7 RBI) has dominated in the matchup as OF Brett Gardner (2-for-19, 11 K) hasn’t seen the ball well out of the righties hand. It has been a solid year for the L.A. bullpen as they are 8-7 with a 3.53 ERA (1.16 WHIP) and have successfully saved 17-of-25 (68%) games. Huston Street (2.74 ERA, 17 saves) is second in the AL in saves as he has a 25:5 K/BB ratio with 16 hits allowed over 23 frames.

Eovaldi has some of the best raw stuff in the game as he boasts an average fastball of 95.7 MPH and adds nasty off-speed pitches. It has not fully translated to this level, though, with a mere 6.6 K/9 as he’s shown impressive control (2.2 BB/9) but is susceptible to the long ball (1.1 HR/9). He has failed to get past five innings in two of his last three outings as he gave up 11 hits, all singles, in 4.2 IP against the Athletics in his last start. The Yankees ended up winning the game and they have actually defeated six of the last eight opponents with the 25-year-old on the bump. He’s seen Los Angeles just twice in his young career, going 0-1 (0-2 team record) with a 6.75 ERA (2.14 WHIP) as he was hit hard (3.1 IP, 6 ER, 10 H, 4 K) when they last met. The duo of 1B Albert Pujols and OF Mike Trout have combined to go an impressive 8-for-12 (.667) with one RBI against Eovaldi as 3B David Freese (1-for-8) has struggled in the matchup. The relievers for New York have been great with a 9-5 record, 2.97 ERA (1.13 WHIP) and are 19-for-22 (86%) in save opportunities. Andrew Miller (1.08 ERA, 17 saves) has yet to fail in a save opportunity and has left 92.2% of runners on base thanks to his 14.4 K/9.