Yankees at Red Sox
Alex Rodriguez is chasing Willie Mays on the all-time home run list as the New York Yankees visit the rival Boston Red Sox in the opener of a three-game series on Friday. The Yankees are winners of 10 of their last 13 games and enter the series one game up on the Red Sox in the American League East.
Rodriguez is stuck on 659 career home runs and is coming off an 0-for-6 performance with four strikeouts in a 3-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays in 13 innings on Wednesday. "(Wednesday) was definitely a tough day for our offense and, specifically, for me," Rodriguez told reporters. "You have to have a short memory, just press delete and enjoy the day off tomorrow and be ready to go Friday.” New Boston left fielder Hanley Ramirez does not have quite the career home run total of Rodriguez but is certainly doing plenty of damage this season. Ramirez matched a club record with 10 home runs in April and has hit four in the last four games.
TV: 7:10 p.m. ET, MLB Network, YES (New York), NESN (Boston)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Yankees LH CC Sabathia (0-4, 5.96 ERA) vs. Justin Masterson (2-0, 5.16)
Sabathia endured his worst outing of the young season on Saturday, when he was blasted for seven runs and nine hits in five innings to suffer a loss to the New York Mets. The burly veteran failed to record an out in the sixth inning for the first time this season and surrendered three home runs in the setback. Sabathia is 11-12 with a 4.68 ERA in 29 career starts against Boston.
Masterson does not have the velocity on his fastball that he had in the past but has been solid in three of his four starts. The sinkerball specialist worked a season-high seven innings at Baltimore on Saturday and surrendered three runs on seven hits in a no-decision. Masterson is 4-5 with a 3.94 ERA in 13 career games (nine starts) against the Yankees and has limited Rodriguez to 3-for-12 without a home run.
WALK-OFFS
1. The Red Sox took two of three in New York from Apr. 10-12.
2. New York CF Jacoby Ellsbury is 7-for-13 with four stolen bases in the last three games.
3. Boston 2B Dustin Pedroia is 8-for-15 over the last four games.