Game 90: Brandon McCarthy makes his Yankees debut

If you're just joining us today, the NY Post is reporting that Masahiro Tanaka has been flown back to New York to get his right arm checked out. Given all the injuries to their starting rotation that the Yankees have had to deal with this season, this would be the worst of them all.

Brian McCann told reporters this afternoon that he didn't notice anything was wrong with the Tanaka last night while he was giving up a career-high five runs on 10 hits; just said the biggest thing was that he was leaving pitches up in the zone.

The Yankees, who have won four of their last six games after dropping last night's contest against the Indians, 5-3, have not missed the playoffs in back-to-back years in the Wild Card era. We would almost certainly be on the bad side of history if anything series has happened to Tanaka's arm.

Anyway, there is still a game tonight, and the Yankees will be taking the field with the Indians as they try to gain control of this series with the third of four games taking place this evening at Progressive Field.

Tonight's lineup against Cleveland:

CF Jacoby Ellsbury
2B Brian Roberts
C Brian McCann
1B Mark Teixeira
DH Carlos Beltran
RF Ichiro Suzuki
LF Zoilo Almonte
3B Zelous Wheeler
SS Brendan Ryan

* The Yankees have recalled Zoilo Almonte from Triple-A Scranton today. However, no corresponding move has been announced and the Yankees are currently listing 26 players on the lineup card. It's possible that they could be planning to put Tanaka on the DL -- with the All-Star break next week, he'd only have to miss one or two starts.

* Brett Gardner is out of lineup tonight with what he's calling a lower abdominal strain, according to reporters. He thought it might have been hernia, but a doctor confirmed it wasn't.

* Meanwhile, Beltran is back after missing the past couple of games with some swelling in his knee.

Pitching matchup preview:

Acquired from the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday, right-hander Brandon McCarthy will make his Yankees debut tonight against the Indians.

McCarthy is coming to New York after going 3-10 with a 5.01 ERA over 18 starts with Arizona this season. McCarthy was 1-10 with 5.38 ERA in first the 16 starts this season. However, he's won his past two outings, allowing 3 earned runs with 12 strikeouts over 12.2 innings.

Meanwhile, right-hander Josh Tomlin gets the start for the Indians tonight, looking to improve on his 4.11 ERA this season. Aside from a complete-game one-hitter against the Seattle Mariners on June 28, Tomlin has allowed five earned runs in three of his last four outings.

To make things worse for him, Tomlin is 2-4 with a 5.45 ERA in seven starts at Progressive Field this season.

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