New York Yankees (34-28) at Miami Marlins (27-37), 7:10 p.m. (ET)
(SportsNetwork.com) - The New York Yankees aim to stay on a winning track Monday evening as they begin a four-game interleague series with the Miami Marlins.
The Yankees will visit the Marlins for the first two games of this series before it shifts to the Bronx on Wednesday.
New York is set to start Masahiro Tanaka, who has been excellent in two starts since coming off the disabled list following a right forearm strain and right wrist tendinitis.
Tanaka was 2-1 with a 3.22 earned run average through four starts before being sidelined for just over a month. The right-hander hasn't shown much rust since coming back, logging a pair of seven-inning victories over Seattle and Washington.
Tanaka allowed one run in each outing while striking out a total of 15 batters. He limited the Nationals to five hits, one a solo homer, in Tuesday's 6-1 win and did not walk a batter while lowering his ERA to 2.48.
"Just really consistent again," said Yankees manager Joe Girardi. "I thought they were aggressive on (Tanaka), and he made really good pitches early in the count."
The 26-year-old will be facing the Marlins for the first time.
Bronx-born hurler Tom Koehler will get to face the Yankees tonight for the first time in his career and has gone 4-4 this season for the Marlins while posting a 4.00 ERA.
Koehler's numbers took a bit of a hit last time out when he suffered a 7-2 loss in Toronto on Wednesday. The right-hander was touched for six runs -- five earned on eight hits and two walks over 6 2/3 innings with a season-high seven strikeouts. Of some concern were the three homers he allowed, the most he had given up in a game since also getting taken deep three times by Washington on May 6. That also marked the last time he lost a decision.
"They're a real quality lineup," said Koehler. "I left a couple pitches up in the zone, and they punished them pretty good."
The Yankees would love to punish Koehler's mistakes again tonight after snapping a three-game slide with Sunday's 5-3 victory over the Baltimore Orioles. John Ryan Murphy had three hits, including a two-run double in the fifth inning that got past a diving Manny Machado down the left-field line to snap a tie game.
"I guess any time you hit the ball that way you expect it to be caught," Murphy said of the double. "It was a tough play for (Machado) diving down the line. I hit it hard."
Designated hitter Alex Rodriguez went 0-for-4 with a walk and run scored, leaving him at 2,995 career hits. However, he isn't expected to be in the starting lineup until Wednesday as the Yankees won't have a DH spot in Miami.
The Marlins were denied a four-game sweep of Colorado on Sunday as they lost 4-1 to the Rockies. Dan Haren gave up three runs on a pair of homers in the first inning, but only one more hit over his six innings of work in a defeat.
"He didn't have the rhythm and tempo that he normally has (in the first inning)," Marlins manager Dan Jennings said of Haren. "That being said, he limited the damage with only three runs and responded with five more innings. He put us in position to give us a chance to get back into that game and win it."
Miami played most of the game without second baseman and former Yankee Martin Prado, who exited in the first inning with a sprained right shoulder that was sustained when he tumbled over first base while nearly colliding with Colorado's Ben Paulsen in his lone at-bat.
While Prado is unlikely to play tonight, the Yankees will have to deal with Marlins slugger Giancarlo Stanton, who is hitting .520 over a seven-game hitting streak with five homers and 12 RBI. Stanton has eight homers and 15 RBI over his last 12 games and leads the majors in both categories with 23 home runs and 59 RBI this season.
These two clubs haven't met in the regular season since the Marlins took two out of three from the visiting Yankees on June 19-21, 2009.