Boston @ New York preview
Yankee Stadium
Last Meeting ( Aug 7, 2010 ) Boston 2, NY Yankees 5
CC Sabathia improved to 8-0 at home and delivered a blow to the Boston Red Sox’s playoff hopes on Saturday. On Sunday night, A.J. Burnett will try to knock them out.
Boston will obviously be happy Sunday’s game against the Yankees will be at night. The Red Sox own the best record in baseball in night games but are just 12-18 in the daytime.
Saturday’s losing pitcher, John Lackey, is also a different pitcher at night, and he was victimized by Saturday’s sunny skies. New York’s Robinson Cano hit a line drive to right field that J.D. Drew appeared to have lost in the sun and fell in for the go-ahead run in the fifth inning.
The victory, coupled with the Tampa Bay Rays’ loss to Toronto gives the Yankees a 1 ½-game lead in the American League East. Boston, meanwhile, fell six games behind New York and is 4 1/2 games behind Tampa Bay in the wild-card race.
And time is running out.
The Red Sox had hopes of taking a big chunk out of that lead over the weekend but they couldn’t follow up Friday night’s 6-3 victory.
Josh Beckett gets the ball today in a crucial matchup. Beckett has been blasted twice by the Yankees this season. In his last start against the Bombers, he surrendered five runs in 4 2/3 innings.
After the outing, he was scheduled to miss a start to work out some mechanical issues but he suffered a back problem during the time and went on the disabled list for six weeks.
Beckett has pitched well since his return to Boston. The Red Sox have won all three of his starts as he has allowed five runs in 20 innings. He is 9-6 lifetime against New York.
Burnett is 0-3 in his six starts against Boston since joining the Yankees. He allowed nine runs and nine hits in 4 1/3 innings in his last outing against the Red Sox.
Burnett was also hammered in his last start, an 8-6 loss to Toronto where he allowed eight runs in 4 2/3 innings.
The Yankees hope to have Alex Rodriguez back in the lineup today. Rodriguez was hit in the leg by a hard grounder off the bat of Lance Berkman during batting practice Saturday.
Rodriguez fell to the ground writhing in pain for several minutes before limping off the field. He was taken for X-rays but the results were negative and he is questionable for today’s game.
Ramiro Pena stepped right in and drove in two runs in A-Rod’s place.
Boston signed Carlos Delgado to a minor-league contract on Saturday. Delgado hopes to play two weeks in the minors before joining the parent club.