By Matt Rappa, Sports Talk Philly editor 
After having their four-series win streak snapped with a 6-0 defeat on Tuesday, Zach Eflin and Philadelphia Phillies (41-36) will look to salvage the finale against Luis Cessa and the New York Yankees (52-25) Wednesday evening at Citizens Bank Park. Eflin will look to snap the Phillies' three-game skid, while earning his fifth straight win.
Phillies starter Jake Arrieta struggled in the second of the three-game set on Tuesday, allowing six runs — three earned — on nine hits, one walk and five strikeouts spanning five innings. Yankees starter Luis Severino, meanwhile, earned his MLB-best 12th win, tossing seven shutout innings and allowed only six hits with nine strikeouts. Phillies relievers Zac Curtis, Victor Arano and Hector Neris combined for four shutout innings, allowing only one hit and one walk while striking out three batters. Shortstop Scott Kingery and second baseman Cesar Hernandez each had two hits, accounting for four of the club's six hits overall. Maikel Franco's third inning double against Severino extended the Phillies' extra-base hit streak to 73 straight games.
The Phillies are 14-15 all-time in regular season action against the Yankees. The Yankees have outscored the Phillies 10-2 thus far this series, and 73-68 since the teams' last non-postseason meeting at Citizens Bank Park, June 19-21, 2006. Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge will not start in the finale, after slashing .375/.500/.750 so far in the series with two singles, one home run, two walks and three runs scored in 10 plate appearances.
Starting Pitching Matchup:
| New York Yankees (52-25) | Philadelphia Phillies (41-36) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RHP | Luis Cessa | RHP | Zach Eflin | ||
| (0-0, 3.00 ERA) | (5-2, 3.44 ERA) | ||||
RHP Luis Cessa, Age: 26
- Career vs. PHI: N/A
- Career at Citizens Bank Park: N/A
Cessa will make his first start this season and his 15th career start overall. The right-hander is making a spot start, allowing veteran southpaw CC Sabathia to open the Yankees' series against the Boston Red Sox this Friday at Yankee Stadium. Cessa was recently activated from the 10-day disabled list, after missing over two months with a severe left oblique strain.
In his career as a starter, Cessa is 2-7 with a 4.54 ERA, 55-19 strikeout-to-walk ratio and 1.200 WHIP spanning 73 1/3 innings. The Cordoba, Mexico, native has a 6.75 ERA and 1.607 WHIP in four career interleague appearances, facing 42 batters in 9 1/3 innings.
RHP Zach Eflin, Age: 24
- Career vs. NYY: N/A
- Career at Citizens Bank Park: 3-6, 5.23 ERA, 12 G, 12 GS, 72 1/3 IP, 75 H, 43 R, 42 ER, 16 HR, 15 BB, 60 SO, 1.244 WHIP
Eflin (4) is one of five National League starters to win four or more games in the month of June, joining the Chicago Cubs' Jon Lester (5), the San Diego Padres' Clayton Richard (4), and the Arizona Diamondbacks' Zack Greinke (4) and Zack Godley (4).
Starting Lineups:
| New York Yankees (52-25) | Philadelphia Phillies (41-36) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Player | Bats | Position | Player | Bats | ||
| 1 | LF | Brett Gardner | L | 1 | 2B | Cesar Hernandez | S |
| 2 | RF | Giancarlo Stanton | R | 2 | LF | Rhys Hoskins | R |
| 3 | CF | Aaron Hicks | S | 3 | CF | Odubel Herrera | L |
| 4 | SS | Didi Gregorius | L | 4 | 1B | Carlos Santana | S |
| 5 | 2B | Gleyber Torres | R | 5 | RF | Aaron Altherr | R |
| 6 | 3B | Miguel Andujar | R | 6 | SS | Scott Kingery | R |
| 7 | 1B | Neil Walker | S | 7 | 3B | Maikel Franco | R |
| 8 | C | Kyle Higashioka | R | 8 | C | Jorge Alfaro | R |
| 9 | P | Luis Cessa | R | 9 | P | Zach Eflin | R |
Broadcast Information:
- First pitch: 7:05 p.m.
- TV: NBCSP
- Radio: SportsRadio 94 WIP
Game Notes:
- Kingery has hit safely in seven straight games, slashing .286/.310/.286 with three runs scored, eight singles, one RBI, one walk and eight strikeouts spanning 29 plate appearances.
- Arrieta's 6.66 ERA in the month of June ranks as the third-worst among qualified National League starters, trailing only the Colorado Rockies' Chad Bettis (8.54) and German Marquez (8.53).
- The only Yankees to have previously faced Eflin are Giancarlo Stanton (1-3, HR, 2 RBI, .333/.333/1.333) and Neil Walker (0-5, 2 SO, .000/.000/.000). No active Phillies has previously faced Cessa.
- The Phillies trail the division by 3.5 games, and the second Wild Card spot by a 1/2 game. The Braves (5-3 vs. CIN) and Nationals (1-0 at TBR) also both lost on Tuesday.
In the News:
- Kapler: Phillies GM Klentak Is 'Excellent Evaluator, Dealmaker' [Link]
- Kapler: ‘No Doubt’ Arrieta Will Take Phillies Into Postseason [Link]
- Phillies RHP Pat Neshek Makes 2nd Rehab Appearance [Link]
- Phillies Promote No. 9 Prospect Ranger Suarez to Triple-A Lehigh Valley [Link]
- Former Phillies 1B/OF Darin Ruf thriving with KBO's Samsung Lions [Link]
What's Next:
Thursday, June 28, 2018: vs. Washington Nationals, 7:05 p.m.
- Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia, Pa.
- RHP Tanner Roark (3-8, 4.27 ERA) vs. RHP Aaron Nola (9-2, 2.58 ERA)
- TV: NBCSP; Radio: SportsRadio 94 WIP
