Boston @ New York preview
Yankee Stadium
Last Meeting ( Sep 24, 2010 ) Boston 10, NY Yankees 8
Suddenly there is some concern for the New York Yankees.
A day after ace CC Sabathia was roughed up by the Tampa Bay Rays, reliable veteran Andy Pettitte couldn't make it out of the fourth inning against the Boston Red Sox on Friday.
The Yankees, who now trail the Rays by a half-game in the AL East, host the Red Sox again on Saturday in the second of a three-game series at Yankee Stadium.
Boston jumped out to nine-run lead on Friday and held off the Yankees' comeback bid to claim a 10-8 victory in the series opener. While the Red Sox still trail New York by 6 1/2 with just nine games to play, the concern for the Yankees was the performance of Pettitte.
Manager Joe Girardi wanted to get at least 90 pitches from his veteran left-hander, but Pettitte mustered only 75 - and most of those were ineffective.
Boston pounded Pettitte for six runs and 10 hits in 3 1/3 innings. Pettitte has just one start left before the postseason begins.
The Yankees' offense is of no concern.
New York received six homers in the game, two apiece from Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez. Nick Swisher and red-hot center fielder Curtis Granderson also went deep.
The competition won't get any easier on Saturday as Boston sends Jon Lester to the mound. Lester (18-8) is making a late run at the AL Cy Young Award. While he'll probably finish behind Sabathia and a couple of others in that race, Lester has been dominant as of late.
He's won seven of his last eight starts and started the impressive run with a 2-1 win at Yankee Stadium on Aug. 9.
Lester is 5-1 lifetime against the Yankees with a 3.63 ERA against the game's most powerful lineup.
New York will try to right the ship on Saturday with Ivan Nova on the hill. The Yankee rookie is making a strong pitch for a spot on the postseason roster. With the latest outing by Javier Vazquez on Thursday night, he may just make it.
Nova (1-0, 4.11 ERA) has not faced Boston before.
The Yankees have won his last five starts but Nova has notched the win in just one of the games.
Boston will most likely be without Mike Lowell for Saturday's contest. Lowell was struck in the forehead by a bad-hop grounder and was removed from Friday's game for precautionary reasons.
The Red Sox said that Lowell's right eye was twitching after the incident. If Lowell has a concussion, he may have played his last game as he intends to retire at the end of the season.
Boston also lost catcher Jared Saltalamacchia for the rest of the season with a thumb injury which may require surgery.
There were reports that Boston claimed infielder Felipe Lopez off waivers from the St. Louis Cardinals.