Los Angeles @ New York preview

Last Meeting ( Sep 17, 2019 ) LA Angels 0, NY Yankees 8

The New York Yankees can punch their ticket to the postseason for the 21st time in 25 years on Wednesday when they play the second contest of their three-game series against the Los Angeles Angels. The Yankees (99-53), who are on the cusp of their first American League East title since 2012, can secure a playoff berth with either a victory versus the Angels (68-83) or a Cleveland loss to Detroit on Wednesday.

Gleyber Torres belted his team-leading 38th homer with a three-run blast to highlight a six-run fourth inning in New York's 8-0 romp on Tuesday. The 22-year-old is 13-for-39 with four homers, 11 RBIs with eight runs scored in his last nine games for the Yankees, who reportedly could welcome back slugger Giancarlo Stanton either Wednesday or Thursday. Stanton has been sidelined since straining the posterior cruciate ligament in his right knee on June 25. David Fletcher enters Wednesday's contest with four multi-hit performances in his last seven contests for the spiraling Angels, who have lost six of their last seven overall and 18 of their last 23 road games.

TV: 6:35 p.m. ET, FS West (Los Angeles), YES (New York)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Angels LH Dillon Peters (3-3, 4.83 ERA) vs. Yankees LH CC Sabathia (5-8, 4.95)

Peters fell to 0-2 with a 7.85 ERA in his last four starts after yielding four runs for the third straight contest and working just three innings on Wednesday in a 4-3 setback versus Cleveland. "It looked like he was kind of off from the get-go. Not only the pitching, but the balks. Just looked like something was off," Angels manager Brad Ausmus said of the 27-year-old. Peters was taken deep twice against the Indians and surrendered 10 homers in his last nine outings.

Sabathia didn't fare well in his first start since coming off the injured list with an ailing knee, allowing two runs on three hits in 3 1/3 innings of a no-decision at Detroit on Thursday to fall to 0-4 with a 7.50 ERA in his last eight outings. The 39-year-old received the same fate in a lackluster performance against Los Angeles on April 24, surrendering three homers and five runs total in five frames. Andrelton Simmons went deep twice off Sabathia, who is 4-2 with a 3.18 ERA at home while allowing the opposition to bat .216 against him - as opposed to 1-6 with a 6.66 ERA and .306 batting average against away from Yankee Stadium.

WALK-OFFS

1. New York RHP Dellin Betances sustained a partial tear of his left Achilles tendon in the weekend's series finale versus Toronto, manager Aaron Boone announced Tuesday.

2. Angels OF Kole Calhoun had two hits in the series opener after going 3-for-16 in the previous series against the Yankees.

3. New York 1B DJ LeMahieu is 12-for-26 with four runs scored during his five-game hitting streak.

PREDICTION: Yankees 6, Angels 2