Thursday night at Yankee Stadium, the and will rekindle their rivalry with the first of four games in the Bronx. The Yankees Santiago Casilla Jersey have baseball's best record (by a lot) and the Astros have the American League's second best record (by a lot). These have been the Junior Circuit's two best teams by a good margin so far in 2022. "I think it's always fun to compete against the best," . "I think everybody looks forward to playing against the best and competing against the best. Of course, everyone is going to be really excited." Here are the American League standings as of Thursday morning: New York Yankees: 51-18Houston Astros: 43-24 (7 GB) : 39-30 (11.5 GB) : 36-28 (11.5 GB) : 39-31 (12 GB)Only the (45-26) have a better record than the Astros among National League teams -- the Astros just swept two games from the Mets in Houston -- so this series features two of the three best teams in baseball. The Yankees and Astros aren't strangers, though Houston has had New York's number in recent postseasons. The atmosphere in The Bronx figures to be intense."I don't get that caught up in it," . "It's a team we have a rivalry with. You appreciate being involved in a series like that. I don't think I put any more into it. It's not October. They're important games against a great opponent and I hope we play well." Here are the details for the four-game series at Yankee Stadium. Games on Network can be streamed on (try for free). DateStart timeStarting pitchersTVThurs., June 23 7:05 p.m. ET LHP (7-3, 2.78 ERA) vs. RHP (8-1, 2.70 ERA) YES Network, AT&T SportsNet SW, MLB Network Fri., June 24 7:05 p.m. ET RHP (8-3, 2.30 ERA) vs. RHP (4-1, 3.27 ERA) Amazon Prime Video, AT&T SportsNet SW Sat., June 25 1:05 p Rickey Henderson Jersey .m. ET RHP (4-3, 3.07 ERA) vs. RHP (6-1, 3.14 ERA) YES Network, AT&T SportsNet SW, MLB Network Sun., June 26 1:35 p.m. ET RHP (4-6, 4.63 ERA) vs. LHP (6-3, 2.31 ERA) YES Network, AT&T SportsNet SW, MLB Network We were so, so close to a Cole vs. Verlander matchup. The two former teammates were lined up to face each other at one point, but forced the Yankees to shuffle their rotation, so Cole and Verlander no longer line up to pitch the same day. Too bad. That would've been one of the best on-paper pitching matchups of the season. Here are four things to know heading into this weekend's series, with a prediction thrown in for good measure. A lot of it. The Astros eliminated the Yankees in the 2015 Wild Card Game, the 2017 Marcus Semien Jersey ALCS, and the 2019 ALCS. The Yankees have had the upper hand in the regular season (12-8 against the Astros since 2018), but no one really cares about that. October is the only thing that matters and this rivalry has been one-sided in the postseason. Along with the , the Yankees have been the most outspoken team against Houston's sign-stealing scandal, with GM Brian Cashman going as far as to say it was the "" the Yankees from winning the 2017 World Series. That's a stretch, but the point remains: the Yankees are not happy about the scandal and aren't shy about letting everyone know it. And neither are Yankees fans, of course. When the Astros played in Yankee Stadium last year -- it was their first visit to the Bronx since 2019, before the sign-stealing scandal broke -- they were booed vociferously. Bregman, , and heard the loudest boos ( hears residual boos when he visits with the Blue Jays). Of course, , though not in real-time and it was before MLB i sued a memo informing teams sign stealing would be met with harsh penalties. The Yankees aren't exactly innocent bystanders. In the end, there is no love lost with these two franchises. It will be an eventful series. Expecting a high-scoring series? You might be disappointed. The Astros and Yankees are two of the very best run prevention teams in baseball this season. They are pitching-first teams despite Walt Weiss Jersey their reputations as offensive powerhouses. Here's where the Astros and Yankees ranked in various run prevention measures heading into Wednesday's action: AstrosYankeesRuns allowed per game 3.43 (3rd in MLB) 3.00 (1st in MLB) ERA 3.03 (3rd) 2.88 (1st) ERA+ 126 (3rd) 133 (2nd) Strikeout rate 23.2% (11th) 25.3% (1st) K/BB ratio 3.05 (7th) 3.68 (1st) Opponent's OPS .632 (3rd) .611 (1st) Pitching WAR 8.7 (6th) 11.4 (1st) Defensive runs saved 25 (9th) 42 (2nd) You can also dig deeper and look at things like chase rate (Yankees are first, Astros seventh), swinging strike rate (Yankees are first, Astros eighth) and opponent's barrel rate (Yankees are first, Astros fifth). Anything you can do to prevent runs, these two teams are good at it. The Astros and Yankees smother their opponents on a nightly basis. The biggest difference between these two teams is offense. The Yankees didn't become the just by pitching well. They also lead MLB in runs scored per game (5.12) and OPS+ (121), and rank near the top of the league is most offensive statistics. The Yankees have baseball's best record because they do everything well. The Astros, meanwhile, are averaging only 4.31 runs scored per game, which ranks 17th in baseball and is a tick below the MLB average of 4.33. There's an offensive disconnect in Houston because the Astros have hit the third most homers (90) and have the fourth best team Reggie Jackson Jersey OPS+ (111), yet they're 17th in runs per game. Sequencing matters and they're not always getting that big hit. Given the names on the roster, I would not dismi s the Astros as some league average offensive team. They'll ruin a pitcher's day real quick if he's not careful. Both the Yankees and Astros are run prevention juggernauts. They make you work for every run. Does that mean we're heading for a low-scoring series? Sure, it's po sible, but the baseball gods like to play tricks on us. The 162-game season is long and unforgiving, and every player goes through ups and downs. As such, some players will head into this weekend's series on a hot streak. Here are three Yankees players who have been crushing the ball the last two weeks: Terry Steinbach Jersey PAAVG/OBP/SLGHRRBI 41 .263/.317/.421 1 4 55 .326/.436/.652 5 11 49 .326/.408/.674 3 6 Hicks' numbers the last two weeks are just OK, though he's gotten several big hits lately, including a go-ahead bases-clearing double Saturday and a go-ahead ninth inning triple Monday. He and were just dreadful in April and May, but both have picked it up in June and are in the middle of their best stretches of the season. Noticeably absent: . MLB's home run leader is 6 for 33 (.182) in his last nine games, . and have yet to find their stride