Red Sox vs. Yankees Series Preview: Rivalry rematch

The Red Sox got off to a historic start, but the Yankees are baseball’s hottest team.

The Boston Red Sox (25-9) head to Bronx to take on the New York Yankees (24-10) for a three-game battle at Yankee Stadium.

After a historic start to the season for the Red Sox, the Yankees have become baseball’s hottest team. Since Boston took two out of three from New York at Fenway, the Red Sox are 15-7 and the Yankees are 18-3 . The Red Sox The teams will bring the two best records in baseball for a battle for first place in the American League East.

Mookie Betts, the early season favorite for AL MVP, is leading the majors with average (.355) home runs (13) and runs (36). J.D. Martinez has also been brilliant, with a .349 average, eight homers and 27 RBI. However, aside from Xander Bogaerts‘ return from the disabled list, the rest of the Red Sox offense has struggled to find consistency at the plate.

Meanwhile, the Bronx Bombers continue to mash. Didi Gregorius (10 HR), Gary Sanchez (9 HR), Aaron Judge (8 HR) and Giancarlo Stanton (7 HR) all lead the way for a young Yankees team who are settling in.

After the brawl between Joe Kelly and Tyler Austin, the teams square off for the first time since the bad blood boiled over. Will ill feelings toward each other trickle into Yankee Stadium?

Pitching Matchups

Tuesday, May 8 at 7:05 PM – Drew Pomeranz (1-1, 6.14 ERA ) vs. Luis Severino (5-1, 2.11 ERA)

Wednesday, May 9 at 7:05 PM – David Price (2-4, 5.11 ERA) vs. Masahiro Tanaka (4-2, 4.39 ERA)

Thursday, May 10 at 7:05 PM – Rick Porcello (5-0, 2.14 ERA) vs. C.C. Sabathia (2-0, 1.39 ERA)

Series Notes

The Yankees have outscored opponents 98-37 over the past 16 games.
Severino is 2-5 with a 4.82 ERA vs. the Red Sox.
Right-handed starters are 1-15 with a 7.48 ERA against the Red Sox this season.
Pomeranz has gone 3-2 with a 3.12 ERA at Yankee Stadium.
Price is 1-4 with an 8.22 ERA in his last five starts after starting the season with a win and 14 scoreless innings pitched.
Sanchez is batting .455 with four HR against Price.
Tanaka is 2-0 with a 2.41 ERA in his last three starts.
Porcello has allowed three earned runs or fewer in all seven of his starts. He’s also lasted at least six innings in six of them.
Sabathia has won five straight starts against the Red Sox, dating back to September 2016.

Three Keys To Victory

Offense: The Red Sox offense better bring it against the Yankees at Yankee Stadium. The pathetic right field fence has become a weapon for the Bronx Bombers this season — especially Gregorius. While Betts, Bogaerts and Martinez have lead the way for Boston, the rest of the starting lineup needs to produce at a high level this series. If they don’t, the series will slip away from Boston. It would be shocking to see anything less than a three-game offensive battle between both teams.
Defense: The Red Sox haven’t been horrific in the field, but they’ve been sloppy. It seems like Rafael Devers and Eduardo Nunez have an error every other game, and even Bogaerts, Jackie Bradley Jr. and Andrew Benintendi have had their share of mental errors that don’t show up on the box score. The Red Sox can’t afford to give the Yankees any extra outs. The Rays, Royals and Rangers may not punish the Sox for bad defense, but the Yankees have the capability to send a rocket over the fence on the very next play. Don’t extend an inning.
Bullpen: According to Manny Randhawa, Red Sox relievers pitched 26 1/3 innings over over a seven-game span, second in the AL only to the Blue Jays (30), while posting a 2.73 ERA with 37 strikeouts and three walks to earn MLB Bullpen of the Week presented by The Hartford honors for the period from April 30 to May 6. The bullpen was heavily criticized to start the season, but have been very solid since. Can they continue their success against New York’s star-studded lineup?

Next: Red Sox: Tyler Thornburg turning heads for Triple-A Pawtucket

Check back with BoSox Injection prior to the start of every Red Sox series this season for our preview!

Home/Red Sox News