New York @ Boston preview

Last Meeting ( Sep 26, 2014 ) NY Yankees 3, Boston 2

Derek Jeter is expected to return to the lineup for the New York Yankees on Saturday in Boston as he plays out the final series of his storied career against the Red Sox. One night after his dramatic walk-off RBI single in his Yankee Stadium finale, Jeter chose to sit out the opener of the three-game season-ending season at Fenway Park. He did promise in a pregame press conference that he would play over the weekend out of respect to the Red Sox fans and the rivalry, but will only serve as the designated hitter.

Jeter watched as a collection of reserves and September call-ups recorded a 3-2 win over the Red Sox in Friday's series opener. It was the seventh victory in 10 games overall for the Yankees, who have won 11 of 17 meetings with Boston and five of seven at Fenway Park. Rusney Castillo homered for the second straight game to lead the Red Sox, who have dropped 14 of their last 18 at home.

TV: 1:05 p.m. ET, FOX

PITCHING MATCHUP: Yankees RH Masahiro Tanaka (13-4, 2.47 ERA) vs. Red Sox RH Joe Kelly (3-2, 4.00)

Tanaka's return from a lengthy layoff due to elbow trouble was a successful one, as he allowed one run in 5 1/3 innings of a win over Toronto on Sunday. He struck out four with no walks to run his remarkable strikeout-to-walk ratio to 7.32, which would rank second in the American League if he had enough innings to qualify. The 25-year-old has yielded four runs in 16 1/3 innings over two starts versus Boston, going the distance in a 2-1 loss to the Red Sox at home on June 28.

Kelly will be making his 10th start since coming over to Boston in a trade at the July 31 deadline, the last five of which have seen him last at least six innings. He let up two runs and just three hits in seven frames to defeat Baltimore on Sunday in his longest outing since his Red Sox debut on Aug. 6. Kelly, who has issued 30 walks in 54 innings with Boston, limited the Yankees to three runs in 6 2/3 innings at New York on Sept. 2.

WALK-OFFS

1. Jeter is a career .265 hitter at Fenway Park, his lowest mark in any American League park other than Comerica Park (.261) and the old Kingdome in Seattle (.247).

2. Red Sox 3B Will Middlebrooks (hand) has missed four straight games but hopes to play at some point over the weekend.

3. Yankees 2B Mark Teixeira has scored 999 career runs.

PREDICTION: Yankees 4, Red Sox 3