New York will begin its final series of the regular season when it travels to Texas on Monday night. The Yankees lost two out of three against Baltimore over the weekend, but they have already clinched the No. 2 seed in the American League. Texas is riding a five-game losing streak and will not be in the playoffs.
New York has already clinched the American League East and the No. 2 seed in the AL Playoffs, so it does not have anything to play for on Monday night other than staying in good form. The Yankees had won seven out of eight games prior to losing two out of three against Baltimore over the weekend. They picked up an 8-0 win on Saturday but scored just one run in each of the other two games. Star slugger Aaron Judge is still sitting on 61 home runs, so his quest for topping the AL record held by Roger Maris will continue on Monday.
We thank the Maris Family for being a part of this magical season with us ?? pic.twitter.com/YwvdXM0okf
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) October 2, 2022
The Yankees have been the most powerful offensive team in the majors this season, but they rank No. 15 in batting average. Judge is the overwhelming favorite to win the AL MVP with his 174 hits and 130 RBIs to go along with the 61 homers. He is facing a Texas pitching staff that is No. 22 with an ERA of 4.25. Right-handed pitcher Luis Severino is going to be on the mound for New York on Monday. He allowed two runs on three hits and three walks across four innings against Toronto last Monday. Severino was making his second start since coming off the IL, so he will likely be fully stretched out in this outing. He is 6-3 with a 3.41 ERA and 105 strikeouts overall in 2022.