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First Yankees-Red Sox series of 2016 begins Friday
By: Staff Writer - StatFox
Published: 4/29/2016  at  5:30:00 AM
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By Brad Kallet

NEW YORK YANKEES (8-12)

at BOSTON RED SOX (12-10)

First pitch: Friday, 7:10 p.m. ET
Line: New York -108, Boston -102, Total: 8.0

Masahiro Tanaka and the Yankees take on Henry Owens and the Red Sox in this season’s first installment of the fiercest rivalry in baseball.

It’s the best rivalry in baseball—and arguably in all of sports. On Friday night the Yankees (8-12) and Red Sox (12-10) will kick off a three-game series at Fenway Park. On the mound for Joe Girardi’s club will be ace RHP Masahiro Tanaka (1-0, 2.92 ERA, 23 SO, 6 BB in 24 2/3 IP). He’ll be opposed by LHP Henry Owens (0-0, 8.10 ERA, 4 SO, 4 BB in 3 1/3 IP), who has made just one start for Boston this season. This rivalry may not currently have the juice that it did in years past, but you can guarantee that the players will get up for this weekend set. Coming into the opener, John Farrell’s squad is in second place in the American League East, 1 ½ games behind the first-place Orioles. The Yankees, 4 ½ games behind Baltimore, are in last place. These two clubs have been going in opposite directions. New York has dropped three of four, whereas the Sox have won four of five. New York has owned Boston over the last two seasons, going 23-15 (and 13-5 at Fenway Park). Nineteen of those 38 games went OVER the total.

This isn’t your father’s—or your brother’s, for that matter—Yankees offense. They don’t strike a ton of fear in you, which is a rarity considering they often have one of the most dangerous offenses in baseball. New York’s best hitter in April has been 2B Starlin Castro (.289, 3 HR, 12 RBI, .333 OBP), who’s in his first season in the Bronx. New York doesn’t hit a lot of home runs, as RF Carlos Beltran (.263, 4 HR, 9 RBI, .288 OBP) leads the club with just four. Two starters, DH Alex Rodriguez (.190, 3 HR, 7 RBI, .288 OBP) and 3B Chase Headley (.148, 0 HR, 2 RBI, .277 OBP), are hitting below .200. New York has gone just 3-6 against left-handed starters this season, averaging 2.8 runs in those nine games. Owens faced the Yankees twice last season—his rookie campaign—and went 0-2 against them with a 13.49 ERA. Rodriguez is 2-for-4 against the 23-year-old with a double and two RBIs.

The Red Sox have a quality lineup, but they’ll have their work cut out for them against Tanaka, who has gone 4-2 against them with a bloated 5.13 ERA. 2B Dustin Pedroia (.337, 3 HR, 13 RBI, .382 OBP) has been on absolute fire of late, and 3B Travis Shaw (.312, 2 HR, 15 RBI, .391 OBP) continues to impress in his first full season in the majors. 40-year-old David Ortiz (.296, 3 HR, 16 RBI, .398 OBP), in his final big-league campaign, is proving that he could certainly continue playing after 2016 if he wanted to. RF Mookie Betts (.270, 4 HR, 14 RBI, .305 OBP) leads the club with four home runs. Being that they play the Yankees 19 times a season, the Red Sox have seen plenty of Tanaka since he debuted in 2014. Pedroia (5-for-13 with 2 2B) has hit him well, and Ortiz (4-for-15 with 1 HR, 2 2B, 3 RBI, 3 BB) has had some success against the right-hander. Betts is 3-for-9 with two doubles and an RBI vs. Tanaka, while Xander Bogaerts (.282, 1 HR, 10 RBI, .358 OBP) is 5-for-19 lifetime with a home run, a double and three RBIs.


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