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| photos.nj.com |
By Nick Ziegler (@Ziggy26x)
August 16-18th
W2W4: New York Yankees vs Boston Red
Sox
The New York Yankees will be heading
into Boston to face their arch rivals the Red Sox in what is an
important series for both teams, as the Yankees look to gain ground
in the Wild Card and AL East, and the Red Sox will look to improve on
their two game lead on the Tampa Bay Rays for first place. The
Yankees are now (62-58), which is 8.5 games behind the Red Sox in the
division, and six games behind the two Wild Card spots.
- Pitching Match-Ups
On Friday night to kick off the series
the Yankees will be sending Andy Pettitte (7-9, 4.62) to the mound,
who will be making his 40th career start against the Red
Sox, and he will be looking for his 20th win against
Boston, as he faces Felix Doubront (8-5, 3.66). In Game 2 the Yankees
will have their ace Hiroki Kuroda (11-7, 2.33) on the mound facing
John Lackey (7-10, 3.32), who is having a nice bounce back season.
Game 3 will be on Sunday Night Baseball on ESPN, as C.C Sabathia
(10-10, 4.66) will be facing Ryan Dempster (6-8, 4.50).
- Hot Streak
Yankees Outfielder Alfonso Soriano has
been on a historic tear in the past few games, as hes been putting up
stats that would be great for a slow pitch softball league in the
last three games. In the past three games against the Angels, Soriano
went 10 for 14 with four home runs, 14 RBIs, and seven runs scored.
The Yankees offense looked much better of late, and the main reason
for that has to be the tear that Soriano has been on, which the
Yankees hope will continue in Boston. Soriano hasn’t been alone in
being on a hot streak, as Robinson Cano is quietly on a 10-game
hitting streak, and in the last seven days is hitting .520. Cano does
struggle against Friday's Starter Doubront however, as he is just one
for 16 in his career against him.
- Keep Winning Series
After the disaster in Chicago against
the White Sox, where the Yankees were swept they bounced back going
5-2 on their home-stand against the Tigers and Angels. If the Yankees
are to start hoping teams in their division and the Wild Card
standing they need to keep winning series, as they head into a
crucial stretch against division opponents in the next 16 games. The
Yankees have had three series against the Red Sox so far this season,
and are 3-6, losing all three series, but this is a healthier and
better Yankees team that knows they need to win this series, so it
should be a highly competitive fun series to watch.
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