The New York Yankees will try to win their tenth win in a row facing the Boston Red Sox tonight, at Boston’s Fenway Park. Winning ten games in a row is historically difficult. The Yankees won nine in row last year. They won ten in a row in 2012, under Billy Martin, 11 in a row in 1985. The Yankee record for the most wins in a row is 19 straight games, in 1947, under manger Buck Harris, when I was one year old.
The Yankees won the last game of a Blue Jays series at Buffalo. They then went on to sweep a four game series away from the Baltimore Orioles, followed by a sweep of the Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium. Last night at Fenway Park the Yankees acheieved their ninth win, and tonight will look to have that historic 10 game winning streak.
Tonight’s game at Fenway Park in Boston, will be televised on the YES Network and NESN in New England. The game will be played under clear skies, with no chance of showers. The temperature will drop during the game to just 50 degrees, with a light chilling north breeze. The chill last night, might have been a factor in Chapman’s dropped velocity.
To accomplish a tenth win, the New York Yankees will send forth Yankee pitcher J.A. Happ. Happ, after having a slow start in the season, has pitched very well for the Yankees, he has pitched brilliantly in his last two starts. In a September 8 start, he stuck out 10 Blue Jays, but lost the game due to a Yankee error. In his September 13th start, he allowed just one run into the seventh inning, while striking out five. Happ won the his last seven games in a row at the end of the 2018 season. The Yankees hope he will show that type of dominance in tonight’s game.
The Red Sox, basically having no pitching this year. They have used all kinds of pitchers to start games. The result is that they are last in the East. Tonight will be no exception, as the Red Sox will start a reliever that has been forced into a starting role. Chris Mazza is 1-1 with an ERA of 5.57. Mazza has kicked around in the minors for years, playing for the Minnesota Twins, the Miami Marlins, and the New York Mets. Now the 30-year-old righty, is starting games for the Red Sox. The Yankees have faced Mazza before, as a releiver in a game on August 16, when he gave up four runs in three ininnings, in the Yankee loss. Mazza is coming off of two loses, one with the Rays and the last one to the Miami Marlins.
As a side note, Mazza is believed to be a first cousin, twice removed, to New York Yankee great Joe DiMaggio. When Mazza was six years old he met DiMaggio at a family reunion.
“Honestly, I don’t really remember it,†he said. “And I definitely didn’t understand who he was at the time. Our family is so big in the Bay Area,†he said. “I’ve got cousins everywhere. I went to high school with cousins who I didn’t even know were my cousins. There were so many of us, it’s hard to be close with everyone, especially ones that live on the other coast (like Joe DiMaggio did).â€
After tonight, the New York Yankees will have one more game against the Red Sox, a matinee game on Sunday, before going back to Buffalo for four games against the Blue Jays, before finishing up the regular season at home, against the Miami Marlins. The Yankees starter for the last game of the Boston series will be Yankee’s pitching sensation, Deivi Garcia.