The Boston Red Sox Have a chance to put the AL East to Bed this Weekend
Baseball's best rivalry will have tension and impact this weekend at Fenway Park in Boston. The series between the New York Yankees (68-38) and the Boston Red Sox (75-33) will begin on Thursday Night.
The Red Sox lead the Yankees by 5.5 games in the American League East and they have a chance to put this division to bed if they take of business.
The last thing Boston wants is New York to take three-out-of-four or vice versa. The Boston Red Sox have been playing better baseball as of late than the New York Yankees have been. Boston will be fully healthy for this series other than Rafael Devers. New York will still not have Aaron Judge.
C.C. Sabathia (6-4, 3.53 ERA) will be the Yankees starter on Thursday Night and Brian Johnson will be the Red Sox starter (1-3, 3.45 ERA) starter on Thursday Night.
Luis Severino (14-4, 2.94 ERA) will be the Yankees starter on Friday Night and Rick Porcello (13-4, 4.03 ERA) will be the Red Sox starter on Friday Night.
J.A. Happ (1-0, 1.50 ERA) will be New York's starter on Saturday Afternoon and Nathan Eovaldi (1-0, 0.00 ERA) will be Boston's starter on Saturday Afternoon.
Masahiro Tanaka (9-2, 3.84 ERA) will be New York's starter on Sunday Night and David Price (11-6, 3.97 ERA) will be Boston's starter on Sunday Night.
With these pitching matchups this weekend, there is only one monster advantage. It belongs to the New York Yankees on Sunday Night. David Price is horrendous when he pitches against the New York Yankees. The Yankees will win one game in this series, but the Red Sox will win two games in this series and maybe three.
I think Boston will put themselves in a better position in the AL East Standings when this series is finished.
The Red Sox will most likely be up 7.5 games on the Yankees when this weekend is over, but I could see the Yankees being only 3.5 games back of Boston, although it probably won't happen.
It will either be a split or the Boston Red Sox taking three-out-of-four. There is no way a sweep will happen, although that is what Boston or New York is hoping for.