Yankees look for 11th straight win Tuesday vs. Braves

The New York Yankees are rolling, having won 10 straight games – all against National League teams – entering Tuesday night’s Game 2 of their interleague series with the visiting Atlanta Braves. And the Yanks are solid favorites tonight on WagerWeb.com.

New York, which has won 20 of its past 24 games overall to take command of the AL East, rallied from a 2-0 deficit on Monday to beat the Braves 6-2 – New York just swept Atlanta in Turner Field last week. CC Sabathia struck out 10, Derek Jeter drove in three runs, and  Mark Teixeira and Robinson Cano hit solo home runs Monday as New York equaled its longest winning streak since May 2005.

Since 1965, the Yankees have had only one winning streak of at least in 11 games, doing that in 1985. Never before has a Yankees club won 10 in a row against teams with above-.500 records.

Sabathia beat the Braves last Tuesday, too, and improved to 22-8 lifetime in interleague play. The workhorse had thrown exactly seven innings in his previous five starts, and topped that. Add Sabathia’s Monday into the equation and the Yankees starters’ ERA in June is a ridiculous 1.97 in 114 1/3 innings.

The Yankee are starting to separate themselves from the rest of the American League. At 42-25 (.621), they have a two-and-a-half game lead over the Baltimore Orioles in the East. The Los Angeles Dodgers (42-25) are the only team with a better record in baseball — for now.

New York turns to right-hander Hiroki Kuroda tonight against Tim Hudson – those two faced off last week in Atlanta. He took a no-hitter into the sixth inning on June 8, then struck out a season-high eight batters Wednesday vs. Atlanta as he allowed two runs over six innings. Kuroda hasn’t lost since May 21.

Hudson pitched well against the Yankees on Wednesday then allowed a two-run homer in the sixth inning that proved to be his undoing. Still, he allowed only three runs over six innings while striking out eight, and that was coming off a five-hit shutout in Miami on June 5.

The Yanks still won’t have outfielder Nick Swisher back. He was out of the lineup for a second straight game due to a bone bruise on his left leg, but manager Joe Girardi expects him back shortly.

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