Game 61: Yankees going for a third straight win

The Yankees kicked off their 10-game road trip last night on a good note, beating the Kansas City Royals thanks to seven innings of two-run ball from Chase Whitley, and a bases-clearing double in the 3rd inning by Brian McCann that turned out to be the difference-maker for the Bombers.

That win puts them on a two-game wining streak, as this four-game series continues tonight on FOX at 7:15 pm ET with David Phelps and Danny Duffy squaring off.

Derek Jeter is back in the Yankees' lineup after sitting out last night following being in the lineup seven straight games. Because Jeter was out, Joe Girardi was able to have Jacoby Ellsbury lead off last night with Brett Gardner batting second. I really liked the lineup that way, and think it should be like that more often, as Ellsbury and Gardner can use their speed at the top of the lineup to create runs.

But as long as Jeter is healthy, we probably won't see much of that with him always batting second.

Ellsbury, by the way, has been hitting the ball a lot better over the past couple of weeks, even as the No. 3 hitter. He enters tonight's game on an eleven game hitting streak going, and over the span is batting over .400 (17-43).

Pitching match-up preview

David Phelps will get the ball for the Yankees tonight as he looks to follow up Whitley's quality performance last night. Phelps (1-3, 4.11 ERA) had one of his worst outings of the season Monday against the Mariners, as he was tagged for six runs in six-plus innings, while walking three and hitting a batter in the loss.

Phelps has only received an average of 2.89 runs of support in his six starts, so hopefully the Yankees' offense will give him something to work with tonight, rather than the usual lack of support.

Danny Duffy will be Ned Yost's starter tonight. Duffy is looking to turn things around after giving up 11 runs total in his last two starts, which have come after he took a perfect game into the 7th inning against the Baltimore Orioles on May 17th.

Game thread: Lots going on in the sports world tonight. Obviously you can use the comment section below to talk about tonight's game, or even the Belmont Stakes, Stanley Cup (Go Rangers!) and US Men's National Team game against Nigeria. Let's chat, you guys.

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