New York Yankees Previews: Yankees go for the Red Sox series win tonight in the Bronx

New York Yankees, J.A. Happ

Tonight for the New York Yankees they can take their second series win against the rival Boston Red Sox.  In their first meeting of three games in July, the Yankees sweep the Red Sox.  Back in that series the Yankees still had the services of Giancarlo Stanton (hamstring) and Aaron Judge (calf), which are now on the IL.  Nevertheless, the Yankees with their “next man up mentality, will try to take the series tonight and go for the sweep on Monday night.

Last night, the Yankees, again punished the Red Sox with an 11-5 loss at the Stadium.  In a disturbing event, the AL-leading hitter DJ LeMahieu took a bad swing and came away with a bruised thumb, that will most likely keep him out of tonight’s game along with the “smash brothers.” LeMahieu had x-rays that were negative but was sent for an MRI.

The New York Yankees for the second night in a row went double digits against Red Sox pitching.  Last night their best pitcher Nathan Eovaldi gave up eight Yankees runs.  With the loss of key players, the Yankee nevertheless stepped up with a combination of long balls and small ball play to overtake the Sox.  Since Clint Frazier was brought up to replace Aaron Judge, he has had 11 at-bats with two homers and eight runs batting in.  He is making the statement that he can carry the club if necessary.

If tonight’s game, if it can be played at Yankee Stadium, it will be played under cloudy skies with showers in the area, especially at the 7:08 pm game time, when the temperature will be about 70 degrees. The game tonight is scheduled as a nationally televised game on ESPN.  With only showers in the area, and the need to complete games in this shortened season, the umpires will do everything possible to get the game played.

Tonight the New York Yankees will send out J.A. Happ to capture another Yankee win.  Happ has struggled mightily in his first two starts.  In his first outing against the Baltimore Orioles, he gave up four runs in four innings. In his second outing against the Phillies, he gave up another four runs, this time in just three innings. Happ is definitely the loose cog in the Yankee rotation.

Manager Aaron Boone noted that Happ’s battle to find the strike zone is unusual for the veteran, who has thrown at a good strike rate throughout his career.  It’s somewhat of a mystery for Boone and pitching coach Matt Blake trying to find out what’s wrong with Happ.  But, both of them hope Happ can go deeper into the game, and at least keep them in the game.  If he can’t it may be his last start in this short season. So far, he is 0-1 with an unacceptable 10.29 ERA. Michael Chavis and Kevin Pillar have good records off Happ.

The Red Sox with a loss of any pitching has called up right-hander Chris Mazza to make his first Red Sox ever start. He did pitch 2 2/3 innings against the Yankees in relief in the last series.  He pitched well allowing no runs in the Red Sox loss.  The 30-year-old Mazza has had a short major league career pitching one year with the New York Mets before becoming a Red Sox. With the Mets in 2019, he was 1-1 in nine games in relief, with an ERA of 5.59. He has never started a game in the majors.

Tonight the New York Yankees will look to continue their winning ways and will ask the patched-up lineup to step up, and show the Boston Red Sox that they can take the challenge and win again. On Monday night, the Yankees will again face the Red Sox in the final game of the four-game series. Red Sox lefty Martin Perez will face a yet to be named Yankee pitcher at 7:05 pm.

 

 

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