New venue, same drama. The rivalry between the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees will always be eventful.
Starting tonight, the Red Sox face-off with the Yankees, as you may have heard. And the Bronx Bombers happen to have drawn our top two starters.
And I know that "game-calling" skills may be overrated. But in the case of Beckett, I prefer Varitek to be behind the plate, rather than Kottaras. No disrespect to Georgie boy, but I like when the calm, collective, intelligent mind of Tek is calling the shots while Beckett is on the hill. Could be just a personal preference I guess. But we will all agree, I'm sure, that nobody knows Beckett like Tek does.
Even though Boston just recently had an 11-game winning streak snapped and beat the Cleveland Indians coming back from a 5-run deficit winning on a Jonathan Van Every homer in extra innings -- his first of his MLB career -- the Red Sox still have some things to figure out. Matt Garza is one and Josh Beckett is the other.
Josh Beckett couldn't figure out the Yankees last start; one day late due to his five-game suspension. His velocity and movement were there, but his command was way off. It's Tampa's second look at Beckett. Garza struggled with control in his last start, but dominated the Sox in the opening series.
Joe Castiglione needs to play the MEGA Millions tonight. So does Jonathan Van Every for that matter.
Burnett has gotten off to a great start and has a good chance of snapping Boston's eight-game winning streak due to his career 5-0, 2.56 ERA record against the Sox. Meanwhile, Beckett returns from suspension and takes his turn on five days rest. He hasn't given up a homer on the year yet. One winning streak has to come to an end today.
Kevin Youkilis launched a three-run homer over the Green Monster giving Boston a 4-0 lead in the third inning. Then, Mike Lowell singled to center making it a five run gap. And for the first time this season the Red Sox finally held onto an early lead.