Chicago @ New York preview

Last Meeting ( Sep 3, 2013 ) Chi. White Sox 4, NY Yankees 6

The New York Yankees are making a charge for a postseason berth but surprisingly enough, it has come without the typical contributions from ace CC Sabathia. The burly left-hander has won three of his last four starts, but he continues to give up runs in buckets with an ERA that is 7.33 over his last nine starts. Sabathia takes the mound in Wednesday's series finale against the visiting Chicago White Sox, a team he has dominated with an 18-4 record in 32 starts.

New York's come-from-behind win on Tuesday night was its 16th victory in 23 games and the Yankees are 2 1/2 games behind Tampa Bay for the second wild card. Chicago, losers of five in a row, will continue its youth movement by sending highly touted right-hander Erik Johnson to the mound for his major-league debut at Yankee Stadium. “If you ever wanted to start somewhere in your major-league debut, this would be it,” Johnson said. “I won’t know the feeling until I get out there, so I’m just looking forward to it."

TV: 7:05 p.m. ET, CSN (Chicago), YES (New York)

PITCHING MATCHUP: White Sox RH Erik Johnson (NR) vs. Yankees LH CC Sabathia (12-11, 4.91 ERA)

Johnson, considered Chicago's top pitching prospect, will make the start in place of Hector Santiago, who will be pushed back to Saturday as the team goes to a six-man starting rotation. The 23-year-old Johnson is 12-3 with 131 strikeouts in 142 innings combined at Double-A Birmingham and Triple-A Charlotte. He was 4-1 with a 1.57 ERA and 1.08 WHIP in 10 starts at Charlotte.

Sabathia picked up the win last time out despite getting cuffed around by the Baltimore Orioles for five runs on seven hits over 5 2/3 nnings. Sabathia has yielded at least five runs in six of his last nine starts and his longest outing in that span came at Chicago, when he limited the White Sox to three runs in 7 1/3 innings. Sabathia's 28 home runs allowed are six more than his previous career high.

WALK-OFFS

1. Yankees captain Derek Jeter moved into solo possession of ninth place on the all-time hits list with 3,315 and is four shy of tying Paul Molitor for eighth.

2. White Sox LF Alejandro De Aza had three hits Tuesday and is 9-for-22 against New York this season.

3. Yankees LF Alfonso Soriano has 39 RBIs in 36 games since his acquisition from the Chicago Cubs.

PREDICTION: Yankees 6, White Sox 3