The New York Yankee rivalry with the Boston Red Sox is one of the oldest and most intense rivalries in baseball. But for the past two years, as the Sox played poorly, the rivalry drifted into the background and included the Tampa Bay Rays and Houston Astros. At the beginning of the season, it looked as if the Red Sox would have an even poorer season this year, but the opposite has happened. Mysteriously they have evolved into one of the best teams in baseball, leading the AL East for most of the season.
But this weekend at Yankee Stadium, that near century-old rivalry will take front and center as the Yankees face the Red Sox for the first time this year in a 3 game evening set. Not only do the Yankees not like the Red Sox, but they also hate their new manager Alex Cora who was involved in the Astros cheating scandal that may have cost the Yankees a World Series appearance in 2017 and possibly beyond.
Look for the series to be intense and exciting as Yankees fans at the Stadium in the Bronx will be fully engaged. The weather, although hot, should not be an issue for the Saturday and Sunday evening games; it could be an issue tonight when thunderstorms will be in the area. It appears at this writing the storms should pass by game-time, but if they slow, it could delay the game, but the game will likely be played. Tonight’s game will be televised on the YES Network and in New England on NESN. Saturday’s game will be on FOX and Sunday’s game on ESPN.
Tonight: 7:05 pm:
Tonight the New York Yankees will send Michael King to the mound to face the Red Sox at the Stadium. With the injured Corey Kluber, the Yankees called up King and Deivi Garcia to replace him. They lost both games so far. King had seven relief appearances before his first start against the Detroit Tigers. In that game, he gave up 2 earned runs and only pitched into the third inning. The Yankees hope tonight that he can go deeper and get a win over the Sox. Although King has not won a game, his ERA is low at 2.86
King will face Nathan Eovaldi, who is a former Yankee (2015-16). In his career, he has been dominant over the Yankees right-handed heavy lineup. Only Gio Urshela (.429) and Giancarlo Stanton (.300) have hit well off Eovaldi. Eovaldi is coming off a win against the Miami Marlins when he went 5.1 innings of scoreless ball. If Eovaldi has a weak spot in his eleven games, he has gone into the seventh inning only once. He has more gound ball-induced outs than strikeouts. He is 6-2 with an ERA of 4.01.
Saturday, June 4th, 7:15 pm:
Saturday evening’s game will have Jameson Taillon on the mound for the Yankees. Taillon is the New York Yankees’ least successful starting pitcher. He is 1-4 with an ERA of 5.10. He is 0-2 in his past five starts after showing signs of rebounding from his two Tommy John surgeries. He gives up too many walks. Taillon had only faced the Red Sox when with the Pirates; once in 2017, he went seven scoreless innings.
The Red Sox will have their own problems with pitching in this game. Their ace Eduardo Rodriguez will take the mound after going 1-4 with an ERA of 7.28 in May. He is presently 5-4 with an ERA of 5.64 on the season. He is coming off four straight losses, the last one to the Houston Astros when he gave up 6 earned runs in only 4.2 innings of work.
Sunday, June 5th, 7:08 pm:Â
On Sunday, the Yankees will send out Domingo German to face the Red Sox Garrett Richards. German, in his last five starts, has been pretty lights out. During that period, the Yankees have won 4 of his starts, and he has pitched to an ERA of 2.40 over the span. In addition, he has pitched relatively deep into games. In his last outing, he got the 5-3 win over the Tampa Bay Rays.
The Red Sox will pit Garrett Richards against German. Richards is 4-4 with an ERA of 3.75. He is 4-2 in his last seven starts. He is coming off two losses in a row, one against the Braves and one against the Astros. The biggest problem for this pitcher is that he has never won a game at Yankee Stadium in his eleven-year career. He has had five career starts at the Stadium and has gone 0-4 with an ERA of 7.43.