Sonny Gray is a stud who has pitched poorly in his last four games. I don't see that continuing starting with this game. Gray was quite optimistic coming out of his last start saying he discovered the flaws and has corrected them. I see Gray returning back to his form of last season when he finished third in the Cy Young Award balloting.

Gray rates a strong edge against over-the-hill CC Sabathia, who is coming off the DL to make his first start since May 4. The Yankees' strength is their great seventh-through-nine inning bridge of Dellin Betances, Andrew Miller and Aroldis Chapman.

However, none of those three is likely to be available for this game because they all have pitched the past two days. Betances already has been ruled out having thrown 46 pitches the past two nights. That means the Yankees need Sabathia to go deep into the game, or rely on second-tier relievers. Neither is a good option. Sabathia has a poor history at the Oakland Coliseum with a 4-7 lifetime mark and 5.44 ERA. He's given up 11 runs in 12 innings during his last two appearances in Oakland.

The A's have won four of their last five games and have beaten the Yankees 12 of the last 15 times at home. The Yankees are 3-9 in their last 12 overall road games.