Red Sox-Yankees should bring a playoff feel to Fenway Park this weekend
BOSTON -- After an impressive first half of the season, the Red Sox have stumbled out of the All-Star break. A series against the rival New York Yankees could be just what they need to get back on track.
With the Yankees currently atop the Wild Card standings and the Red Sox hoping to get there at some point, this series feels pretty important. Even though the fans in the stands will be in shorts and t-shirts this weekend, the series It should bring a bit of a playoff feel to Fenway Park with both teams desperate for a series win.
Red Sox and Yankees have both stumbled out of All-Star Break
The Red Sox had tons of momentum heading into the break, but have gone a disappointing 1-5 since resuming action. The team was swept out of Los Angeles by the Dodgers, but at least it was a mostly competitive series as Boston owned late leads in two of the three contests. But following that up by losing two of three to the lowly Rockies, including a 20-7 walloping to close the road trip on Wednesday, is not something a playoff contender should be doing at this stage of the season.
Maybe Alex Cora's new contract extension will give Boston a bit of a jolt. Though they really shouldn't need any added motivation for this series. It is the Yankees, after all.
And the Yankees have been just slightly better than the Red Sox since the break, going 2-4 against the Tampa Bay Rays and the New York Mets. While losing two of three to the Rockies was a real step back for the Red Sox, the Yankees are coming off a Subway Series sweep at the hands of the Mets, losing two straight to their cross-town rival.
New York scored just three runs in Wednesday's loss at Yankee Stadium, the eighth time this month that the pinstripes have been held to three runs or fewer. They are 1-7 in those contests. (And for more salt in the Yankees' wounds, they dropped all six matchups to the Mets this year.)
The Red Sox helped get the Yankees' slump started
The Yankees have been a bad baseball team for a while now, with New York's struggles go back to mid-June. The Yankees are just 11-23 over their last 34 contests. Only the White Sox have been a worse team in that span.
The Red Sox had a hand in starting this New York tailspin when they took two of three at Fenway Park from June 14-16. New York was 49-22 heading into the three-game set and the Yanks won the first game, 8-1. But the Red Sox tagged Carlos Rodon for five runs in the second game, and then stole nine bases in the rubber match as they ran away with a 9-3 win the following night.
The Yankees dropped 11 of their next 15 games before welcoming Boston for a three-game showdown at Yankee Stadium earlier this month. Once again, the Red Sox took two of three from their rival.
It looked like the Yankees would take the first game of the series, but Masataka Yoshida hit a two-run homer in the top of the ninth to knot things at 3-3. Ceddane Rafeala clubbed a two-run homer in the top of the 10th to stun New York and lift Boston to a 5-3 win.
The Yankees got a little revenge with a 14-4 win in the second game, as rookie Ben Rice channeled his inner Babe Ruth and launched three homers. Alex Verdugo also went yard in the win, and rubbed it in against his former team with a 32-second home run trot around the bases.
The Red Sox got the last laugh though, taking the series with a Sunday Night Baseball victory thanks of two late dingers from Rafael Devers.
There was a time that the Yankees owned baseball's best record, but that is a distant memory at this point. Their hot start afforded them a massive cushion throughout these struggles, as New York enters this series at 60-44, good for a 3.5-game lead for the top AL Wild Card and just 1.5 games back of the Orioles for the AL East.
The Red Sox are looking to make up some lost ground this series, sitting one game back of the Royals for the final Wild Card spot.
The Yankees offense has gone quiet
Since the calendar flipped to July, the Yankees have scored 76 runs in their 18 games, which ranks 19th in baseball over that span. The Red Sox have scored the fifth-most runs in baseball this month with 99 in 18 games.
Juan Soto is the only guy hitting for New York right now, which should be no surprise because that guy never stops hitting. He's slashing .342/.429/.726 with six homers, eight doubles, and 11 RBI this month.
But only one other Yankees regular is sniffing a respectable average in July, and that's third baseman Oswaldo Cabrera, who is hitting .300 over 14 games. Gleyber Torres is the next most-successful Yankee at the plate, hitting .269 for July. Aaron Judge has four homers, but he's hitting just .262 with just one other extra-base hit and seven RBI in 18 games.
The Yankees are hitting just .228 for July. And Verdugo is just 11-for-69 in July and 2-for-20 since the All-Star break. Two of his six hits against the Red Sox this season left the yard, but Verdugo is hitting just .222 against his former team overall.
As for the Boston bats, Tyler O'Neill (.435 average with four homers and seven RBI) and Jarren Duran (.423 with three homers, 10 RBI, and 11 runs scored) are scorching hot, while Rafaela has eight hits in six games -- all singles -- since returning from the break.
Rafaela is hitting .391 (9-for-23) with a pair of homers and a double against the Yankees this season. Devers continues to be a Yankee killer in the Boston lineup, mashing three homers with eight RBI and seven runs scored in six games against New York.
Red Sox-Yankees Pitching Matchups
Friday: Nestor Cortes (4-9, 3.99 ERA) vs. Brayan Bello (10-5, 5.27 ERA)
Devers is hitting just .214 with three hits in 14 career at-bats against Cortes, but two of those hits were homers. Rob Refsnyder should get the start Friday, as he's gone 6-for-13 against the New York southpaw for his career.
Verdugo hit Bello well in his first matchup against his old teammate, going 2-for-3 with a double and a homer.
Saturday: Marcus Stroman (7-5, 3.05 ERA) vs. Kutter Crawford (6-8, 3.37 ERA)
Boston tagged Stroman for four runs over five innings on June 16, but no one has hit him particularly well in their career. Devers is just 1-for-12 against Stroman.
Two of Crawford's six wins this season have come against the Yankees. He's held New York to just three earned runs over his 13 innings of work, and fanned 13 batters to just one walk.
Sunday: Carlos Rodon (10-7, 4.42 ERA) vs. Tanner Houck (8-6, 2.71 ERA)
Boston scored five runs off Rodon back on June 15, but he tossed seven innings of one-run ball in his previous start against the Rays.
Houck lasted just 3.1 innings in his only start against New York this season, when he allowed three runs (only one earned) off a pair of hits and four walks. The Sox All-Star has struggled over his last four starts, as he's given up 23 hits (with a .288 batting average against) and 11 walks over 19.2 innings. He's allowed 12 earned runs -- good for a 5.49 ERA. That doesn't include the three runs he allowed in his lone inning of work in the All-Star Game.
Pitching has been rough for both teams in July. The Red Sox have a 4.55 ERA this month and an MLB-worst 6.38 ERA since returning from the break. (That 20-run game against the Rockies has a lot to do with that high number.) The Yankees own a 4.83 ERA since returning from the break, and a 4.03 (15th in MLB) in July.
After the Red Sox and the Yankees wrap up this series, they'll meet just once more in the regular season: A four-game set in New York from Sept. 12-15.