Yankees at Red Sox
The New York Yankees pitching staff is having no trouble silencing the Boston Red Sox’s powerful lineup. The Yankees will send Adam Warren to the mound Sunday while looking for a sweep of the three-game series at the Red Sox.
Boston has totaled four runs in the first two games of the series, dropping pitchers' duels in each matchup. Alex Rodriguez played the hero with his go-ahead, 660th career home run in Friday’s contest while Brett Gardner did the damage with three RBIs in Saturday’s 4-2 triumph. The Red Sox, who took two of three in Yankee Stadium last month, are still waiting for Mike Napoli to come around and extend the middle of the lineup. The slugger is 1-for-15 in his last four games to drop his batting average to .160.
TV: 8:05 p.m. ET, ESPN
PITCHING MATCHUP: Yankees RH Adam Warren (1-1, 4.35 ERA) vs. Red Sox RH Joe Kelly (1-0, 4.94)
Warren has yet to complete six innings this season but is coming off his best start of the campaign. The 27-year-old struck out six without walking a batter and surrendered one run in 5 2/3 innings against Tampa Bay on Monday. Warren started against Boston on Apr. 11 and suffered the loss while allowing two runs (one earned) on five hits and a pair of walks in 5 1/3 frames.
Kelly has not won since besting Warren in that Apr. 11 meeting, when he held the Yankees to one run on one hit while striking out eight in seven innings. The 26-year-old allowed five runs in each of his last two turns but did not factor in the decision either outing. The one positive is in the strikeout category, where Kelly has racked up 17 in 11 innings over the last two turns.
WALK-OFFS
1. Yankees OF Chris Young is 4-for-8 with a home run over his last two starts.
2. Boston C Blake Swihart went 1-for-3 with a run scored in his major league debut on Saturday.
3. New York has won 12 of its last 15 games and is allowing an average of 2.6 runs in that span.