Yankees vs. A's Thursday MLB injury report, probable pitchers, odds: Gio Urshela back for red-hot Yanks, who may have an Aroldis Chapman problem

The New York Yankees carry an 11-game winning streak into Thursday night's matchup at the slumping Oakland A's, and the Bombers are about to get even a bit better with the return of third baseman Gio Urshela from the injured list. Should New York stretch its winning run to 12 in a row, it would be the franchise's longest since it won 13 straight in 1961. The Yankees are short favorites at Caesars Sportsbook in what could be an AL Wild-Card Game preview.

This is just the third time in the past 60 seasons that the Yankees have won 11 straight games: They also did so in 1985 and 1964 but lost in Game No. 12 in both. The franchise record, though, is still a ways off as the 1947 Yankees won 19 consecutive games. The modern-era MLB record is 22 straight wins by the 2017 Cleveland Indians.

Urshela has been out since July 31 with a left hamstring strain, and New York opened a roster spot for him after Tuesday's win in Atlanta by demoting outfielder Jonathan Davis. Urshela is batting .274 with 11 homers, 41 RBIs and a .754 OPS in 84 games. Rougned Odor has largely been playing third since and he's also hitting well, so Manager Aaron Boone may have a good problem on his hands. Odor can also play several other positions.

Perhaps the only issue for the Yankees right now is closer Aroldis Chapman, who nearly blew a two-run lead in the bottom of the ninth Tuesday vs. the Braves. He allowed two hits and walked two in two-thirds of an inning and left the bases loaded, but Wandy Peralta came in and retired reigning NL MVP Freddie Freeman for the final out.

Chapman has now been pulled in two of his past three outings and his ERA is up to 3.86 with four blown saves. Peralta, meanwhile, has made 10 appearances this month without allowing an earned run. Boone hinted after Tuesday that he may use a closer-by-committee going forward. Chapman had been pulled briefly from the role earlier this season. Peralta only has five career saves in his six seasons, all coming this year. Chad Green also could be an option.

"We've got to figure it out," Boone said afterward. "The bottom line is, a lot of people are doing some really good things down there and Chappy's going to be one of them, too. We've just gotta continue to find ways to win games. And it really is just a little bit of an 'all hands on-deck, let's go find a way.' A lot of guys continue to step up."

New York's surge has it atop the AL Wild-Card standings and now a massive -2000 favorite to make the playoffs and +1100 to miss. Oakland has lost four straight – scoring first in every game – to fall out of a Wild-Card spot and is +230 to make the playoffs and -285 to miss.

It's a good pitching matchup Thursday between New York's Jameson Taillon (8-4, 3.94) and Oakland's James Kaprielian (7-4, 3.25). Taillon is 7-0 with a 2.57 ERA in his past 12 starts. Kaprielian is an AL Rookie of the Year candidate who beat the Yankees on June 18, allowing three runs over 5.2 innings.

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