New York @ Boston preview
Fenway Park
Last Meeting ( May 8, 2010 ) NY Yankees 14, Boston 3
It’s only the beginning of May, but Boston is already fading in the American League East.
A big reason for that is its inability to beat the two teams in front of it. The Red Sox are already a woeful 1-8 this season against Tampa Bay and the New York Yankees, who will go for a three-game sweep today at Fenway Park.
The Yankees have reached double figures in each of the first two games and outscored the Red Sox by a total of 24-6. Boston would do well to simply hold the red-hot Yankees to single digits on today.
New York has won seven straight and is showing no signs of slowing down, while Boston is now in fourth place and closer to the last-place Orioles (6 games) than they are to the first-place Rays (7 games).
It’s up to blossoming ace Jon Lester to salvage at least one game in the series. Lester was hit hard in his first three starts, allowing 15 runs in 16 innings, before settling down.
The left-hander has allowed one run in his last 20 2-3 innings, striking out 23 while walking eight. He’ll need that type of performance against the Yankees.
Mark Teixeira’s three home runs in Saturday’s blowout made him the first New York player since Lou Gehrig to homer three times in a game against the Red Sox. It might be the first sign that Teixeira is pulling out of his traditional April funk.
Teixeira entered Saturday batting .181 but went 4 for 6 with five RBIs. He was batting .136 on May 1, lower than the .200 he was batting on May 1 last year. Teixeira still finished last season batting .292 with 39 homers and 122 RBIs, so slow starts certainly don’t faze him.
The Yankees are expected to get even more good news today with the return of catcher Jorge Posada, who has missed the last six days with tightness in his calf. Francisco Cervelli has filled in admirably for Posada, going 9 for 14 over his last four games and knocking in a career-high five runs Saturday.
Cervelli will get another start tonight since Posada is expected to serve as the designated hitter. It’s a spot he could see more frequently over the next couple of weeks, since regular DH Nick Johnson was finally placed on the disabled list Saturday after taking a cortisone injection for his inflamed right wrist.
Johnson joins Curtis Granderson, who is already on the DL with a groin injury. But it has done little to slow the red-hot Yankees.