Yankees invade Boston to renew their rivalry

By Gary W. Marchese

Boston, MA (May 7) – The New York Yankees will begin a three game series this evening with the Boston Red Sox.  It is also the start of a seven game road trip.  The Yankees will play 17 straight games starting tonight, without having a day off. 

Phil Hughes will make the start going up against Josh Beckett.  The Yankees will not return to Fenway Park after this series until October.  They will play the final series of the year in Boston 10/1-10/3.  The Yankees have won seven of their last eight games and 14 of their last 19.  The Yankees have the second best record in baseball behind the Tampa Bay Rays.  It is the Yankees best 27 game start since 2003.  Here are the lineups, news and notes.

Yankees Lineup: Jeter (SS), Johnson (DH), Teixiera (1B), Rodriguez (3B), Cano (2B), Swisher (RF), Gardner (CF), Cervelli (C), Winn (LF)

Red Sox Lineup:Scutaro (SS), Pedroia (2B), Drew (RF), Youkilis (RF), Ortiz (DH), Beltre (3B), Hermida (LF), Varitek (C), McDonald (CF)

The three Yankees starters in this series are a combined 11-1 with 2.16 ERA this season.  If Pettitte is added to the mix the four of them are a combined 15-1 with a 2.14 ERA.  The Yankees staff as a whole has a 3.45 ERA, which is fifth best the majors.  They are second in the AL behind Tampa Bay.  Joba Chamberlain picked up the save Tuesday and Wednesday and Alfredo Aceves Wednesday, it was the first time since 2002 the Yankees had three straight saves and none was picked up by Mariano Rivera.  Chamberlain became the first Yankee to pick up back-to-back saves since Juan Acevedo in 2003.  The Elias Sports Bureau had this information.

Derek Jeter will pass Lou Gehrig tonight for second on the Yankees all-time games played list.  Jorge Posada has 248 career home runs.  He needs two more to become the eighth player with 250 home runs as a Yankee.  Alex Rodriguez has 20 career home runs at Fenway Park ranking second among active players who have never played for the Red Sox.  Jim Thome is first with 21 being the only player with more then Rodriguez.  Derek Jeter leads all active players in hits (264) and games played (215).

Andy Pettitte will be skipping his next start.  He wasn’t too happy with the decision saying he wishes he could of played catch and then let them know how he felt.  He does understand the move though, Sergio Mitre will take his spot and start the game in Detroit on Monday.  Javier Vazquez will be pushed back to Tuesday, the reasoning on that is he will start the inter-league opener at Citi Field against the New York Mets.  Jorge Posada is available as a pinch hitter and thinks he will be ready to start tomorrow.  Mariano Rivera feels much better and is ready to go tonight.  The Yankees optioned Greg Golson back to AAA-Scranton and called up big righty reliever Romulo Sanchez to fill Mitre’s spot in the bullpen.  Chan Ho Park threw a 45-pitch bullpen session today and will throw another on Sunday.

Posted by gmarchesej on May 7, 2010. Filed under MLB News,News and Sports with Gary W. Marchese Jr.,Sports,US Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.