The Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees clash for the second straight weekend, starting a four-game series on Friday night at Yankee Stadium. Boston won last weekend’s series between the American League East rivals, taking three of the four contests.
Seeking More Of The Same
Boston currently sits 10.5 games behind the Yankees in the American League East. In their last meeting, the Red Sox took three out of four games. The only game they dropped was with Chris Sale on the mound, who has struggled this year despite a very strong 2018 season. The Red Sox did not make moves at the trade deadline, and they will most likely be playing for a Wild Card spot this season.
Leading the way for the pitching this year for Boston has been 26-year-old Eduardo Rodriguez, who leads the Red Sox with his ERA of 4.13 as well as his 13 wins. Sale, who has struggled this year by his standards, still leads the Sox with 189 strikeouts. The Boston Red Sox team ERA is currently 4.74, and they are 32-22 on the road.
As a team, the Red Sox are batting .277 with 169 home runs this season. They are led in home runs and RBI by their starting shortstop, Xander Bogaerts. Bogaerts has a .317 batting average with 25 home runs and 84 runs batted in. He was 3-for-5 with a double and two runs scored in their last game against the Yankees.
Pitching Struggles
The Yankees sit on top of the division despite their pitching struggles since the All-Star break. They have given up at least four runs in every game since the break. In their last five games, they are 2-3 including winning the last time they met the Red Sox, although they did drop the previous three. The Yankees are going to be at home for this series, where they are 39-18.
The Yankees pitching has struggled greatly since the All-Star break, and they will have to step it up a lot if they want to keep the Red Sox down in this series. Most teams in MLB would be winless with the pitching the Yankees have got lately, but luckily New York has some of the best batting in the league, and they can turn any game into a shootout. They are currently batting .269 this season as a team with 180 home runs.
Speaking of the Yankees batting, Edwin Encarnacion has stepped up and been huge for them this season. The veteran leads the team in home runs with 30 as well as runs batted in with 74. They are still without some of their stars as Giancarlo Stanton, Luke Voit, CC Sabathia, and DJ LeMahieu are all currently on the IL right now.
What To Expect
These two teams always put on a good show, and this time should be no different. Despite the big lead in the division, with the Yankees’ recent struggles, I like the Red Sox to take this one and continue to beat New York in head-to-head games.
