Tuesday Night Fight: Red Sox vs. Yankees

Tale of the Tape:

• First met in 1901
• 2,193 total meetings
• Yankees Record in rivalry: 1,183-996-14
• Red Sox Record in rivalry: 996-1,183-14
• Yankees Postseason Record: 2-1
• Red Sox Postseason Record: 1-2
• Current Win Streak: Red Sox (2)

This rivalry is as old as it gets. Every Sox fan hates the Yankees. Every Yankees fan hates the Sox. It’s a fact of life. Over the years, the rivalry has died down as rules have increased and baseball has changed. At the end of the day, it’s still one of the best rivalries in all of sports.

Tonight, is no different. Rivals clash at Fenway for a three-game series to start a Red Sox home stand where they play seven AL East games and host the defending World Series Champs. Before they battle the Cubbies or the O’s, they look to bash the Bronx Bombers. The Sox post a record of 11-8, while the Yankees weigh in at 11-7.  Porcello takes the ball in game one with Sale and Pomeranz to follow in games two and three, respectively. The Yankees have Severino, Tanaka, and Sabathia slated to toss in the series.

The Sox dropped two of three games to the Orioles, the current division leader, in Baltimore. They’re trying to turn their luck around in their 10-game homestand and it starts with their rivalry. The Yankees hit the road for the 3-game stint at Fenway and travel back home for six games at Yankee Stadium.

Both teams have a player in the top five for batting average so far this season. Starlin Castro (.357) and Andrew Benintendi (.347) lead their teams and come in at second and fourth in the American League leaders, respectively. Aaron Judge has been the best Bronx Bomber on the team. He’s tied for third in the AL for home runs (6) and leads the Yankees in that department. However, in game two he’ll have to face Chris Sale, who has the third lowest ERA in MLB (.91). Kimbrel is also leading the AL in saves (7) and is in second overall.

Keys to the Game for Boston:

Keep the Yankees off the board for as long as possible. The Red Sox have struggled to put runs on the board this season. Their high-water mark of eight runs scored was against a struggling Marcus Stroman and have been shut out twice since the outburst. Statistically, the Red Sox need to score 12 runs in this series. Porcello, Sale, and Pomeranz combine for an aggregate ERA of 3.36. Sale keeps the trio steady, but Porcello and Pomeranz haven’t met the performance expectations of the Boston fans this season. These three need to go deep into ball games without giving up a lot of runs.

Key to the Game for New York:

Get to the bullpen. New York has to blow up the Boston starters, make them throw a lot of pitches, then get to the bullpen and do the same thing. The bullpen posts a 2.21 ERA collectively and have thrown nearly 100 pitches per game (95.3). Take advantage of the pitchers you get. Matt Barnes, Robbie Ross, and Fernando Abad all have ERA’s above 3. The sooner you can get to the bullpen, the better chance you have at winning the game.

Written by Stefan Athas