First pitch: Sunday, 7:30 p.m. ET
Line: Houston -125, New York +115, Total: 8.5

The Yankees will be retiring Derek Jeter’s number before taking on the Astros at Yankee Stadium on Sunday.

The series between two of the AL’s best teams will come to an end on Sunday, but not until the Yankees honor Derek Jeter’s career. New York is giving Jeter his place in Monument Park, and that will be the story heading into Sunday. Still, there is some good baseball to be played that night. The Astros will be hoping to finish off the series with a victory, but the Yankees will definitely have the edge on the mound in that one. That is because Houston is going to be throwing RHP Charlie Morton (4-2, 3.63 ERA, 44 K) out there to face RHP Masahiro Tanaka (5-1, 4.36 ERA, 32 K). While Morton has the better numbers thus far, Tanaka is the far better pitcher between the two. Tanaka also has the privilege to pitch inside Yankee Stadium all year, and it can be a whole other animal with the short porch in right field. Morton will need to be careful when throwing pitches high in the zone.

The Astros will be hoping to end this series with the Yankees with a win and Charlie Morton is going to need to pitch well in order for that to happen. Morton has been great in his most recent two starts for Houston, allowing two earned runs in his last 11.2 innings of work. He has been striking guys out a ton, as he has racked up 31 strikeouts over his past four games. It’d be big if he can miss some bats on Sunday night, but it’s most important that he keeps guys off the bases. Morton has walked two or more batters in all but one of his starts this season, and that is something that needs to change moving forward. Two guys that could help provide some run support for Morton are 2B Jose Altuve and SS Carlos Correa. The two of them are a combined 8-for-18 with three homers and six RBI against Tanaka in their careers, so they clearly feel comfortable going against the Yankees’ ace. It also wouldn’t be shocking to see DH Carlos Beltran or C Brian McCann take advantage of the short porch that they once saw very often as members of the Yankees.

If the Yankees are going to beat the Astros on Sunday then Masahiro Tanaka will need to pitch a good game for New York. He has had some trouble with guys like Correa and Altuve in the past, but he must find a way to get over that here. It doesn’t help that the righty is really struggling coming into this one, allowing 18 hits over his past two starts. That number is not very good, so Tanaka must do a better job of avoiding contact in this one. Offensively, two guys that could do damage for the Yankees are 2B Starlin Castro and 1B Matt Holliday. Castro is 12-for-27 with three homers and nine RBI against Morton in his career, and Holliday is 8-for-31 with a homer and five RBI. Both of them are familiar with the righty, and that is not good news for Morton.