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Rival Red Sox, Yankees kick off series Friday night
By: Staff Writer - StatFox
Published: 5/6/2016  at  5:30:00 AM
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By Brad Kallet

BOSTON RED SOX (17-11)

at NEW YORK YANKEES (9-17)

First pitch: Friday, 7:05 p.m. ET
Line: Boston +105, New York -115, Total: 7.5

The first-place Red Sox kick off a three-game series against the rival Yankees in the Bronx.

The Yankees (9-17) will be looking for revenge against the rival Red Sox (17-11) this weekend when the bitter rivals square off for a three-game set at Yankee Stadium. Boston, in first place in the American League East, comes into this game seven games ahead of the last-place Bombers. These two clubs met last week at Fenway Park and John Farrell’s team swept Joe Girardi’s bunch, with Boston outscoring New York 20-9 in the three games. On the mound for the Sox will be RHP Rick Porcello (5-0, 2.76 ERA, 36 SO, 6 BB in 32 2/3 innings), who has earned wins in all five of his starts. He’ll be opposed by RHP Michael Pineda (1-3, 6.33 ERA, 30 SO, 8 BB, 7 HR in 27 IP), who’s been terribly disappointing over his first five starts. The Red Sox have won nine of 11, while the Yanks have dropped seven of eight. The Red Sox have posted a 9-4 road record, and the Yankees have gone just 5-7 in the friendly confines of Yankee Stadium.

2B Dustin Pedroia (.322, 4 HR, 14 RBI, .364 OBP), DH David Ortiz (.319, 6 HR, 23 RBI, .413 OBP) and SS Xander Bogaerts (.309, 1 HR, 13 RBI, .374 OBP) continue to rake for the Red Sox, who have scored the most runs in the American League (147). Boston also leads the AL in average (.283), on-base percentage (.346) and slugging percentage (.454). 3B Travis Shaw (.297, 3 HR, 17 RBI, .366 OBP) has cooled down after a red-hot April, but he’s still hitting the ball well. 1B Hanley Ramirez (.286, 3 HR, 17 RBI, .319 OBP), LF Brock Holt (.280, 2 HR, 16 RBI, .360 OBP) and Jackie Bradley Jr. (.277, 2 HR, 14 RBI, .337 OBP) have also been productive for Boston. Boston has seen plenty of Pineda. RF Mookie Betts (.254, 4 HR, 17 RBI, .293 OBP) has gone 5-for-15 with two homers and two doubles off the 27-year-old, and Bogaerts has gone 4-for-15 with an RBI. Bradley Jr. has owned Pineda in limited action, going 3-for-7 with three doubles, but Ortiz (4-for-17 with 2 2B and 5 SO), Pedroia (3-for-13) and Holt (2-for-11) have struggled a bit against the former All-Star. Porcello faced the Yankees on April 30 and beat them, scattering five hits in a seven-inning shutout.

Where, oh where, is the Yankees’ offense? No Yankees regulars are hitting over .300, as 2B Starlin Castro (.293, 3 HR, 12 RBI, .327 OBP) leads the club with a .293 average. The next best average belongs to C Brian McCann (.267, 3 HR, 10 RBI, .375 OBP), who is hitting just .267. The Yankees, fittingly, are last in the AL in runs (89) and slugging percentage (.353), and second-to-last in average (.232). It doesn’t help that DH Alex Rodriguez (.194, 5 HR, 12 RBI, .275 OBP), who leads the club in homers with five, was placed on the disabled list this week with a strained right hamstring. 3B Chase Headley (.151, 0 HR, 2 RBI, .250 OBP) has been arguably the worst starting position player in baseball, and he might be in danger of losing his job. The Yankees have had their fair share of at-bats against Porcello, and CF Jacoby Ellsbury (.260, 1 HR, 9 RBI, .315 OBP) has loved hitting against him (12-for-28 with 4 HR, 2 2B and 4 RBI). DH Carlos Beltran (.250, 4 HR, 10 RBI, .267 OBP) has also seen the ball extremely well against the 27-year-old in his career, going 9-for-22 with a double. Pineda faced the Red Sox on April 30 and took the loss, allowing two earned runs on five hits in five innings.


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