Yankees announce lineup vs Astros with starting pitcher called up today

NEW YORK - In his first 18 games with the Yankees, Luis Garcia Jr. has provided the kind of offensive jolt they envisioned at the MLB trade deadline.

Following his 4-for-5 (2B, HR, 3 RBI) in Tuesday night's 9-7 Astros' win, the lefty-hitting Garcia is batting .284 as a Yankee with four doubles, four homers and an .860 OPS.

"I see the ball well here,'' Garcia said through an interpreter about hitting at Yankee Stadium, though he tries "not to think about'' the short porch in right, so as not to alter his appraoch.

"I'm a contact hitter,'' said Garcia, batting a combined .283 with the Yanks and Washington Nationals, with 27 homers, 85 RBI and an .871 OPS in 122 games. If he were to overly dwell on pulling pitches into the right field seats, Garcia believes that could negatively impact his swing.

On Wednesday night against Houston, the Yankees face another right-hander in Peter Lambert (8-7, 3.68), who has posted a 4.95 ERA over his last seven starts.

As expected, righty Elmer Rodriguez (0-2, 4.76) was called up to take this turn for lefty Ryan Weathers (flexor strain), placed on the 15-day injured list last week.

Rodriguez has been pitching well lately at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, due to a higher-velocity sinker and a more aggressive approach in the strike zone.

This will be Rodriguez's fifth MLB start, and "when he’s struggled up here, it’s flirting with the strike zone more than living in it,'' said Yanks pitching coach Matt Blake.

"For him to be successsful at this level, (it's about) not giving the hitters too much credit, attacking the zone early, and being confident in his stuff.''

Rodriguez's last start for the Yankees was June 21 against Cincinnati, charged with three runs over four innings in a 4-1 loss at the Stadium.

Midweek Matchup. #RepBXpic.twitter.com/Kcu63LrFZM

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Yankees announce lineup vs Astros with starting pitcher called up today