Yanks @ Red Sox Series Preview

Yankees @ Red Sox

Fenway Park

(3 games)

It's never too early for Yanks-Red Sox, right? These two rivals meet for the first time this season in a three-game series at Fenway this starting tonight. The Yankees head into the series winners of three in a row and four out of their last five. As you know, things are not all good for the Yankees. They can't figured out what is wrong with Chien-Ming Wang, CC Sabathia and Mark Teixeira haven't been able to find their groove yet, A-Rod is still on the DL, and Xavier Nady is out for at least 4-6 weeks. But still, they find themselves at 9-6 and tied for second place with, of course, the Red Sox.

Boston did not start off the year they way they had expected, going 2-6 in their first eight, but have quickly turned things around and have won their last seven in a row. They, like the Yankees, have some issues. Daisuke Matsuzaka, Jed Lowrie, Rocco Baldelli, and Julio Lugo (among others) are all on the DL. They also haven't gotten what they expected out of Matsuzaka (when he was healthy) Jon Lester and Brad Penny so far, but like I said they appear to have turned things around and are starting to play some very good baseball.

The rivalry has already received a kick in the ass, with David Ortiz trying to tell Joba Chamberlain how to pitch. That should make at least tonight's game that much more interesting. The sad part is that both teams will most likely be warned about throwing inside before a pitch is even thrown tonight, and that is a complete and utter joke. I still think Joba should knock down Ortiz, or better yet, the first batter he faces.

This is a pretty important series for the Yankees - at least as far as series in April go, it's important. It would be nice if they could go into Fenway and send an early message by taking at least two of the three games. It's not the end of the world if they lose the series or get swept, but it certainly wouldn't be a good thing either. After last year's third place finish it's important that the Yanks show the Sox that they're back.

The Yankees and Red Sox split the season series last year with each team winning nine of the 18 games.

Pitching Matchups

Game 1: Tonight @ 7:05 p.m. | TV/Radio: YES, WCBS 880
Joba Chamberlain RHP (0-0, 5.06 ERA) vs. Jon Lester LHP (1-2, 5.50 ERA)

Game 2: Tomorrow @ 4:10 p.m. | TV/Radio: FOX, WCBS880
A.J. Burnett RHP (2-0, 3.20 ERA) vs. Josh Beckett RHP (2-1, 3.79 ERA)

Game 3: Sunday @ 8:05 p.m. | TV/Radio: ESPN, WCBS 880
Andy Pettitte LHP (2-0, 2.53 ERA) vs. Justin Masterson RHP (1-0, 3.18 ERA)

Players to Watch

YANKEES: Mark Teixeira - Most people in Boston hate Teixeira, and they hate him for a similar reason that the fans down in Baltimore hate him; he signed with the Yankees instead of signing with their team, in this case the Red Sox. Teixeira didn't handle the boos in Baltimore well until his final at-bat in the second game, hopefully it doesn't take him that long to deal with the hate the Red Sox fans are ready to throw at him this weekend.

Mark Teixeira has not gotten off to the fast start he was hoping for, some of that can be blamed on the wrist injury he suffered in the opening series in Baltimore, but .222 is still .222.

He has not hit well against the Red Sox throughout his career, hitting just .232/.364/.373 with 4 HR and 19 RBI in 41 games. At Fenway his numbers are even worse as he's hitting just .194/.363/.274 with a homer and five RBI in 19 games. He only faced Boston once during the regular season last year and went 0-for-4 with a walk. Considering how much he's struggled agianst the Sox, it should be interesting to see if he can turn that around as a Yankee. He did have a monster ALDS against Boston last October, hitting .467/.550/.467, so he's got that going for him, which is nice.

Teixeira vs. Lester: 0-for-3, K
Teixeira vs. Beckett: .111/.111/.111 (1-for-9), 3 K
Teixeira vs. Masterson: NR

RED SOX: David Ortiz - Like Mark Teixeira, Ortiz started off the year very cold and is still not hitting like Red Sox Nation would want him too, but he's starting to come around. Since returning to Fenway for this recent homestand Ortiz has seen his average go from .158 to .220. It's no surprise that the Red Sox have started winning once Ortiz has started hitting. For the Sox to be as good as they think they are, Ortiz is going to need to hit.

It's no secret that he has killed the Yankees throughout his career, hitting .313/.398/.574 with 25 HR and 90 RBI in 118 games against the Bronx Bombers. He did see a pretty significant dip in that production last year, hitting only .268/.354/.415 with a homer and five RBI, but you can probably chalk that up to injuries.

It will also be interesting to see how the Yankees pitch to Ortiz after his comments yesterday.

Ortiz vs. Chamberlain: .167/.167/.167 (1-for-6), K
Ortiz vs. Burnett: .227/.261/.455 (7-for-22), 2B, HR, 3 RBI, 10 K
Ortiz vs. Pettitte: .364/.408/.545 (16-for-44), 5 2B, HR, 7 RBI, 11 K

Injury Report

YANKEES
- Alex Rodriguez, 3B: 15-day DL with a torn labrum in right hip. He is down in Tampa rehabbing at the Yankees' minor-league complex in Tampa. He's expected back in early to mid May.
- Xavier Nady, RF: 15-day DL with an injured right elbow. It was thought that he would need season-ending surgery, but it is now being reported that he may avoid the surgery and miss just 4-6 weeks.

RED SOX
- Rocco Baldelli, CF/RF: 15-day DL with a strained left hamstring.
- Daisuke Matsuzaka, SP: 15-day DL with right arm fatigue.
- Jed Lowrie, SS/3B: 15-day with a left wrist sprain.
- John Smoltz, SP: 15-day DL as he recovers from right shoulder surgery.
- Julio Lugo, SS: 15-day DL as he recovers from right knee surgery.
- Mark Kotsay, CF: 15-day DL as he recovers from back surgery.
- Jonathan Van Every, CF: 15-day DL with a right ankle sprain.
- Miguel González, RP: 60-day DL as he recovers from right elbow surgery.