Boston Red Sox (88-68) @ New York Yankees (95-61)
Jon Lester (15-8, 3.15) @ Freddy Garcia (11-8, 3.77)
7:05 PM EDT | Yankee Stadium (Bronx, NY)
TV: NESN, YES, MLB Network RADIO: WEEI 850, WWZN 1510
GAME NOTES
With a slim two-game lead in the Wild Card race, the Red Sox start their final road trip of the year tonight with a visit to Yankee Stadium (weather permitting). The collapse of the Red Sox has brought out the knives, complete with speculation about Terry Francona’s job security. Just to keep your head straight, the Red Sox have an 88.9% chance of making the playoffs.
Jon Lester gets the ball for tonight’s start. In his last start Lester again took a loss to the Rays, pitching seven innings and allowing four runs on five hits and four walks with five punchados. Lester is 2-1 with a 4.30 ERA against the Yanks this year. Lester is second in the Major Leagues in run support with 7.03 per nine innings.
On the mound for the Yankees is Freddy Garcia. Garcia has allowed four or fewer runs in 21 of his 24 starts this season, but two of those were in September (seven against the Orioles on 9/5 and five against the Angels on 9/11). This season, opponents have only hit .200 off of Garcia with runners in scoring position.
Lineups
Boston Red Sox
- Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
- Dustin Pedroia, 2B
- Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
- David Ortiz, DH
- Mike Aviles, 3B
- Carl Crawford, CF
- Marco Scutaro, SS
- Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C
- Josh Reddick, RF
New York Yankees
- Derek Jeter, SS
- Curtis Granderson, CF
- Mark Teixeira, 1B
- Alex Rodriguez, 3B
- Robinson Cano, 2B
- Nick Swisher, RF
- Andruw Jones, LF
- Jesus Montero, DH
- Russell Martin, C
INJURY REPORT
Boston: Clay Buchholz, lower back strain (placed on 15-day DL June 19, retroactive to June 17); J.D. Drew, left shoulder impingement, broken finger (placed on 15-day DL July 26, placed on 60-day DL September 13); Kevin Youkilis, left hip bursitis and sports hernia (day-to-day)
New York: Francisco Cervelli, concussion symptoms (placed on 15-day DL September 13, retroactive to September 9); Phil Hughes, back spasms (day-to-day)
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Fun Facts
– With two hits in Wednesday’s game, Adrian Gonzalez (208) surpassed Mo Vaughn’s franchise record of 207 hits, achieved in 1996.
– The Red Sox have hit a Major League-leading 103 home runs on the road this season.
– On September 23, 2008, the Red Sox earned at least an AL Wild Card berth with a 5-4 win over the Indians. Boston’s win eliminated the Yankees from the playoffs for the first time in 14 years.
– And for today’s Totally Untrue Fun Fact: During a recent rain delay, Freddy Garcia tried to eat Brett Gardner.