First pitch: Sunday, 8:10 p.m. ET
Line: N/A, Total: N/A

The Yankees will be looking to win their second consecutive three-game series when they face the Tigers on Sunday.

The Yankees and Tigers have already played two games in this series and the teams have split victories. Detroit won 4-0 with Jordan Zimmermann on the mound on Friday and the Yankees emerged with an 8-4 victory with C.C. Sabathia pitching on Saturday. New York can now come away with back-to-back series victories with a win on Sunday, but Detroit can also do the same. The Yankees have gotten the best of this head-to-head series as of late, winning six of the past eight games played between these teams. Four of the past five games played between these two have gone OVER the total. This game is going to feature a battle between the aces, as RHP Masahiro Tanaka (0-0, 3.18 ERA, 4 K) will take the mound for the Yankees and RHP Justin Verlander (0-0, 4.50 ERA, 5 K) will be starting for the Tigers.

Masahiro Tanaka was solid in his first outing of the year, pitching 5.2 innings and allowing just two earned runs. Tanaka struck out four batters in that game, but the Yankees will be hoping that he can work a bit deeper into this one. They can’t afford to keep going to their bullpen so early, so it’s important that Tanaka can go around seven on Sunday. One guy to really keep an eye on coming into this game is DH Alex Rodriguez (.214, 1 HR, 2 RBI). Rodriguez is hitting well coming into this one, going 3-for-8 over the past two games and he also hit his first homer of the year on Saturday. The real reason that Rodriguez is a key to this one is that he has owned Verlander in his career. Rodriguez is 11-for-32 with five homers and 10 RBI in his career against Verlander. It’d give the Yankees a huge boost if he can get it going on Sunday. 3B Chase Headley (.083, 0 HR, 2 RBI) has been in a huge slump to start the season, but he has also had success against the Tigers’ ace. Headley is 5-for-13 with a homer and an RBI in this head-to-head matchup and the Yankees can really use some production out of him.

Justin Verlander wasn’t spectacular in his season debut, but he did pitch six innings and allowed just three earned runs. Verlander struck out five batters in the game and now faces a Yankees team that can get really hot on certain nights. He’ll need to avoid mistakes on Sunday or it’ll be tough for the Tigers to win. Fortunately for Detroit, the team’s best hitters have all had some success against Tanaka in their careers. OF J.D. Martinez (.313, 0 HR, 0 RBI) is 4-for-6 with two doubles, two homers and three RBI against the Yankees’ ace in his career. DH Victor Martinez (.222, 2 HR, 3 RBI) is 2-for-5 with a homer and five RBI against Tanaka. He also has already hit two homers on the year and has displayed some serious power. 1B Miguel Cabrera (.313, 1 HR, 3 RBI) hasn’t homered against Tanaka, but he is 2-for-4 against him. He happens to be coming off of an 0-for-3 game against the Yankees on Saturday, so he’s going to be due for a solid performance in this one.