Detroit Tigers (18-13) at New York Yankees (20-13)

When: 7:05 p.m. Friday.

Where: Yankee Stadium in New York.

TV: Bally Sports Detroit.

Radio: WXYT-FM (97.1). (Tigers radio affiliates).

Probable pitchers: Tigers RHP Reese Olson (0-4, 3.18 ERA) vs. Yankees RHP Marcus Stroman (2-1, 3.69 ERA).

• Box score

Tigers lineup: TBA

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Game notes: It’s another matchup of wild-card contenders as the Tigers — who own the American League’s third WC spot thanks to Boston’s loss to San Francisco on Thursday — visit the Yankees — who dropped into the top WC spot after losing three of four to AL East-leading Baltimore this week — for a three-game set.

The Yanks have started strong (aside from their issues with the O’s) on the backs of a rotation whose ERA (3.25) entered Thursday No. 4 in the AL. Tonight’s starter, 10-year veteran Marcus Stroman — who signed a two-year, $37 million contract over the winter — has arguably been New York’s least effective starter. The 3.69 ERA is solid, but he has had his issues both in the zone — 30 hits, including five home runs, in 31⅔ innings — and outside it (15 walks and two hit-by-pitches), for a 1.421 WHIP that’s 42^nd among the 46 American Leaguers qualified for the ERA title. He carries a career 3.25 ERA against the Tigers into tonight’s start … but he hasn’t faced the Old English “D” since 2019.

The Tigers, meanwhile, will send Reese Olson to the mound; the second-year starter has a sterling 3.18 that would be in the AL’s top 20 if he had enough innings to qualify for the leaderboard (which he should after tonight’s start). He’s done it by limiting the big hits by opposing batters; of his 26 safeties allowed in 28⅓ innings, just six have been for extra bases, and none for home runs. Olson is coming off one of the best games of his career, in which he held the Royals to three hits over seven innings while racking up eight strikeouts on April 26.

The Yankees offense he’ll face is far from the Bronx Bombers of old, but they can do some damage, with a 4.75 runs-per-game average that’s fifth in the AL and 40 homers, good for second. That’s despite having just two players with OPSes over .800: Alex Verdugo (.805) … and Juan Soto (1.030 following his 2-for-4 performance that featured a triple on Thursday). Soto, in his final year before free agency, has shown the blend of power — six doubles and eight homers — and patience — an MLB-high 26 walks in 148 plate appearances — that should earn him the sport’s second-highest contract (or No. 1, if you don’t count the deferred money Shohei Ohtani is receiving from the Dodgers) this winter.

The Tigers’ offense, meanwhile, is the little engine that could, with a 4.10-run average that’s in the bottom half of the league, albeit close to the AL average (4.21). They’ve got two batters with OPSes above .800: Mark Canha (.888) and Riley Greene (.906) — Greene isn’t far behind Soto, with seven homers and 23 walks in 133 plate appearances.

After today’s series opener, the Tigers and Yankees meet again in the Bronx for a Saturday matinee with Casey Mize on the mound for the Tigers, and then on Sunday with Tarik Skubal looking to boost his Cy Young candidacy.

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Contact Ryan Ford at rford@freepress.com. Follow him on X (which used to be Twitter, y’know?) @theford. Read more on the Detroit Tigers and sign up for our Tigers newsletter.