The most storied rivalry in sports—or at least in baseball, the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox will add yet another chapter to that story over the weekend in a three-game series at historic Fenway Park. The Yankees have gone 7-5 in their first 12 head-to-head games this season, but its Boston that holds the division lead over a slumping Bronx Bombers team.
This series will be contested from Friday, August 18, 2017 through Sunday, August 20, 2017 at Fenway Park in Boston. The games on Friday and Saturday will each be broadcast on MLB Network for those outside the local viewing markets while Sunday’s game will be shown on TBS.
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Pitching Matchups
Jordan Montgomery’s stint in the minors was short lived. He’s back as a key part of the rotation with Masahiro Tanaka and C.C. Sabathia on the DL and is lined up to start on Friday against the Sox.
Montgomery and Luis Severino are the only two pitchers with at least six starts with the Bronx Bombers who is still healthy and on the 25-man roster.
The 24-year old could be running into fatigue issues soon. He’s already thrown 121 big league innings along with five for Single-A Tampa. He threw 139.1 innings in the minors last year.
He looked good in his return start, holding the same Red Sox team to a single run in 5.1 innings. In the game, he allowed only two hits although he did walk three. In his previous start against Boston, however, he lasted only four innings and allowed three runs.
In total, the southpaw has been very reliable with a 7-6 record, 3.94 ERA and 1.233 WHIP in 22 starts. His FIP is nearly identical to his ERA at 3.92.
Lined up to go against Montgomery for the Red Sox is Drew Pomeranz. The southpaw has had a great season, but is a threat to regress as he did after his midseason trade to the Red Sox last year.
To this point in the year, Pomeranz has been the best Sox start not named Chris Sale. He’s 12-4 with a 3.39 ERA and 1.343 WHIP. He’s thrown 127.1 innings so far and the only time he eclipsed that mark was last year when he clearly regressed.
To this point, we really haven’t seen a regression. Pomeranz threw a three run, 6.2 innings quality start against the Yankees his last time out. The last time he faced the Yankees in the Bronx, he went six innings and surrendered four runs.
In the middle game, the Yankees will look to another fill in starter with Luis Cessa having gotten the nod last time through.
He’ll have a huge task trying to keep pace with the Sox’s Chris Sale who will be on turn in the rotation on Saturday.
Sale remains the leading contender for the AL Cy Young Award and has already been worth 5.3 rWAR. He’s 14-4 with a 2.51 ERA. He’s struck out 241 batters in 168.1 innings and leads the league in both categories. His ERA, along with his 1.92 FIP, 0.879 WHIP and 7.77 strikeout to walk ratio are all also tops in the AL.
Given Sale’s dominance, it would seem the Yankees don’t even have a chance. That said, the Sox have lost two of the three starts he’s made against New York. The one exception, however, was his last start. The last time out, Sale held the Yankees to one run in seven frames and struck out 12.
As for Cessa, he’s gone back and forth from the minors and has started and pitched in relief in the Majors. He’s 0-3 with a 4.75 ERA. He hasn’t pitched more than five innings with the big club.
The series should wrap on Sunday with Sonny Gray getting another start, looking for another win after his first in pinstripes last time out. He went six innings against the Mets on Tuesday.
On the other side, the Red Sox would have Doug Fister as the next man in the rotation for Sunday though with a couple days off, the Sox could skip the right-hander.
Offensive Breakdown
The Yankees have scored the fourth most runs in baseball and the second most in the American League.
While the overall numbers are still elite, the month of August hasn’t been a great one for the New York offense.
Unexpected performances by Brett Gardner, Aaron Judge, Matt Holliday and Aaron Hicks—among others—is what sparked the Yankees’ offensive outburst, but many of those players have either gone cold or gone on the DL. In the case of Holliday, both happened.
While the Bronx Bombers have become sluggish at the dish, the Red Sox have seen their offense perk up.
Rafael Devers, in particular, is scorching hot right now with a .348/.411/.667 slash line. He’s slammed six homers and recorded 13 RBIs. in 17 games played. Between him and Eduardo Nunez there’s been a definite spark added to the roster.
For those that have been here all year, Andrew Benintendi and Hanley Ramirez have seen their power pick up.
New York is still a more powerful team with Judge able to crank one out at any moment. Boston, however, is an offense better positioned to generate runs.
Bullpen Comparison
The Yankees have a deeper pen than the Red Sox. Dellin Betances continues to deal and with Adam Warren, Chad Green and others to cover a wide array of situations, the Yanks have the personnel to effectively shorten the game to just six or seven innings.
The ninth inning can get a bit dicey in New York right now. Aroldis Chapman is a sure-thing in baseball circles, except for right now.
In fact, Chapman almost blew a three-run save on Tuesday night.
All in all, Chapman versus Craig Kimbrel is one of the best closer showdowns possible, even with Chapman’s recent hiccups.
These two bullpens rank No.3 and No.4 in bullpen ERA this year with Boston leading the Yankees, 3.03 to 3.13.
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