Bronson Arroyo expected to make Game 1 start for Reds in very unfavorable matchup with Phillies

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Bronson Arroyo tossed seven innings of one-run ball against the Astros last night in his final start of the season and John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports that after the game the veteran right-hander “talked like a guy counting on starting Game 1 of the NLDS”:

It’s going to be in a hostile environment, probably Philly. I’m going to have to be on my A game to beat those guys. I think if you ask anyone we’d rather face anyone but Philly. But whoever comes along we’ve got to beat them.

Fay notes that the Phillies would be a particularly difficult matchup for Arroyo because he struggles against left-handed hitters and their lineup is loaded with potent left-handed bats in Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, and Raul Ibanez, plus switch-hitters Shane Victorino and Jimmy Rollins.
Arroyo is 17-10 with a 3.88 ERA in 33 starts overall this season, but that includes holding righties to a .185 batting average and .576 OPS while lefties hit .285 with a .786 OPS. And his career splits are similarly extreme, with a .684 OPS versus righties and an .819 OPS versus lefties.
Perhaps not surprisingly Arroyo is 1-5 with a 5.54 ERA in eight career outings against Philadelphia, although he hasn’t faced the Phillies since 2008.

Aaron Judge hits 18th homer of season, Yankees beat Mariners 10-2

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SEATTLE (AP) Aaron Judge homered for the third time in two games, Anthony Volpe and Greg Allen also went deep and the New York Yankees stretched their winning streak to four with a 10-2 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday night.

Judge hit a towering fly ball on the first pitch of the seventh inning from reliever Darren McCaughan that carried just enough to clear the fence in left-center field, even if it would not have been a homer at Yankee Stadium.

It was the 18th of the season for Judge, who hit a pair of homers in the series opener on Monday night.

While Judge hitting another homer will get the headlines, it was Volpe’s long ball that broke open the game. With two outs in the third inning, Seattle starter Logan Gilbert caught too much of the plate with a 1-2 slider and Volpe drove the pitch 413 feet for a three-run shot and a 6-0 lead. It was Volpe’s eighth homer of the season and snapped a 2-for-22 slide for the rookie.

Allen, filling in for injured center fielder Harrison Bader, hit his first of the season leading off the fourth inning. Isiah Kiner-Falefa also had a key two-run single in the first inning as the Yankees took advantage of an error to give starter Nestor Cortes a 3-0 advantage before he took the mound.

Kiner-Falefa had another two-run single in the ninth. New York has scored at least 10 runs in three straight games for the first time since Sept. 15-17, 2020.

Cortes (5-2) mostly cruised through five innings, allowing two runs and five hits with six strikeouts. Ty France and Teoscar Hernández had RBI doubles in the fifth inning. Judge nearly stole another hit from Hernández after robbing him of a homer on Monday, but his diving attempt at Hernández’s liner fell for a double.

Gilbert (3-3) lasted just four innings for the second time this season. The five earned runs allowed were a season-high and the four strikeouts matched a season-low.

SEE YA LATER

Seattle catcher Tom Murphy and manager Scott Servais were both ejected by plate umpire Brian Walsh in the sixth inning. Murphy was ejected after yelling toward first base umpire C.B. Bucknor following a check-swing that was called a strike. Servais argued the decision to eject Murphy and was quickly tossed by Walsh. It was the second ejection this season for Servais.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Yankees: Bader (hamstring) was placed on the 10-day IL after leaving Monday’s game in the third inning injuring his right hamstring running out an infield single. OF Franchy Cordero was recalled.

Mariners: McCaughan was recalled from Triple-A Tacoma to add a long reliever to the bullpen. RHP Juan Then was optioned to Tacoma. It was Seattle’s first roster move in 24 days.

UP NEXT

Yankees: RHP Clarke Schmidt (2-5, 5.58) took the loss despite allowing only one earned run over five innings in his last start against Baltimore. Schmidt has gone at least five inning in five of his last seven starts.

Mariners: RHP George Kirby (5-4, 3.43) was knocked around for seven earned runs and four home runs allowed in his last start against Pittsburgh. Both matched career highs.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb and https://twitter.com/AP-Sports