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Red Sox face Yankees in NY Thursday
By: Staff Writer - StatFox
Published: 6/8/2017  at  11:24:00 AM
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BOSTON RED SOX (32-26)

at NEW YORK YANKEES (33-23)

First pitch: Thursday, 7:05 p.m. ET
Line: Boston +115, New York -125, Total: 8.0

The winner of Thursday’s meeting between the Red Sox and Yankees will decide who wins this three-game series.

Boston took the first game of this series, as the Red Sox won 5-4 in a game that saw Masahiro Tanaka struggle on the mound once again. The Yankees then responded with an 8-0 victory on Wednesday night. C.C. Sabathia threw eight shutout innings in that game, and the Yankees offense had no trouble putting up runs. Both teams will be hungry when they take the field on Thursday, as each of them wants to win this series very badly. The starters on Thursday are going to be LHP David Price (1-0, 3.00 ERA, 11 K) for the Red Sox and RHP Michael Pineda (6-3, 3.76 ERA, 67 K) for the Yankees. Price looked great in his last start, which is an incredible sign for Boston. If he can return to being the ace he once was then that would really help the Red Sox in their quest to overtake the Yankees and win this division. One trend that will make the Yankees feel good about their chances in this game is the fact that Boston is a miserable 1-12 against the money line in road games after getting shut out over the past three seasons. The Yankees are, however, playing without OF Jacoby Ellsbury (Concussion). They have the depth to get over his absence, but they’d obviously prefer to be at full strength.

Offensively, the Red Sox should have plenty of guys that are up to the task of getting to Michael Pineda on Thursday. The players in this lineup to really keep an eye on are, however, OF Mookie Betts (.259 BA, 9 HR, 33 RBI), C Sandy Leon (.218 BA, 4 HR, 15 RBI), and 1B Mitch Moreland (.265 BA, 7 HR, 30 RBI). All three of these guys have hit Pineda pretty hard in their careers. Betts is 6-for-20 with two doubles, two homers and four RBI against the righty. Leon and Moreland, meanwhile, are a combined 7-for-17 with two doubles, two homers and three RBI against him. After putting up no runs against Sabathia on Wednesday, it’d definitely be big for this team’s confidence if all three can show up here. The Sox will, however, need Price to pitch well on Thursday. He was great in his most recent start, allowing one earned run in seven innings of work. He struck out seven batters in that game, and Boston definitely hopes that he can come back and do it again here.

If the Yankees are going to take this series against the Red Sox then Michael Pineda will need to bring his best stuff to the mound on Thursday. He really struggled in his most recent outing against Toronto, allowing five earned runs on 10 hits in five innings of work on Jun. 2. That type of performance would likely mean a loss for New York. It’d be big if he can turn in a quality start. As for Pineda’s run support, that could come from a number of players. Two guys to really look out for are SS Didi Gregorius (.319 BA, 5 HR, 21 RBI) and C Gary Sanchez (.248 BA, 6 HR, 16 RBI). Gregorius is a ridiculous 10-for-21 with two doubles, a homer, and five RBI against Price in his career. Sanchez, meanwhile, is 2-for-5 with two homers and four RBI against the lefty. It’d be big if this game could wake Sanchez up.


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