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Yankees, Indians to battle in wild card race

Aug 10, 2007 - 1:38 PM NY Yankees (63-51) at Cleveland (65-50) 7:05 pm EDT

CLEVELAND (Ticker) -- The New York Yankees have been feasting on sub-.500 teams since the All-Star break. They'll get their first real test against another playoff contender when they kick off a three-game series against the Cleveland Indians on Friday at Jacobs Field.

The Yankees have gone 20-8 since the All-Star break while playing Kansas City, Baltimore, Tampa Bay, Toronto and the White Sox.

But starting with the Indians, New York will spend much of the rest of the month fighting with playoff contenders.

New York is currently one game behind the Seattle Mariners (63-49) in the wild card race.

The Yankees will send rookie phenom Phil Hughes (1-1, 5.87 ERA) to the mound for the second time since his return from hamstring and ankle injuries.

The 21-year-old righthander had a rough time in his first start back, allowing six runs and seven hits in 4 2/3 innings against the Royals last Saturday.

The Indians will look to put some runs on the board for young Fausto Carmona (13-6, 3.17). The 23-year-old righthander has lost his last two starts despite yielding just three total earned runs.

Cleveland has scored just five runs combined in Carmona's last four starts.

Cleveland, which holds a 1 1/2 game edge over the Detroit Tigers (63-51) in the AL Central, has been struggling to score runs lately. Designated hitter Travis Hafner, who led the league with a 1.097 OPS last season, has seen that mark slip to .819 this season, and a sore knee is likely to keep him out of Friday's contest.