Red Sox at Yankees
Rick Porcello and the Boston Red Sox handcuffed the New York Yankees in their last encounter in April, as the right-hander scattered five hits over seven innings to lift his team to an 8-0 rout. The 27-year-old carries a 13 1/3-frame shutout streak into Friday as the visiting Red Sox vie for their 10th win in 12 outings in the opener of a three-game series versus the Yankees.
Boston added eight more runs in their final contest against New York to outscore its American League East rival by a 20-9 margin in the series before winning two of the last three games versus the Chicago White Sox. Dustin Pedroia highlighted his three-hit performance with a solo homer in a 7-3 triumph over the White Sox on Thursday and is batting .369 over his last 14 contests. New York will open its 10-game homestand looking to find its offense, as it dropped seven of its last eight - with 14 of its 20 runs coming in two of those outings. "It's kind of been the story of the season. We haven't hit, and it's not rocket science," first baseman Mark Teixeira told reporters after the Yankees' 1-0 loss to Baltimore in 10 innings on Thursday. "We just need to execute better."
TV: 7:05 p.m. ET, MLB Network, NESN (Boston), YES (New York)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Red Sox RH Rick Porcello (5-0, 2.76 ERA) vs. Yankees RH Michael Pineda (1-3, 6.33)
Porcello struck out six for the second straight outing in Boston's lopsided win over New York on Saturday, raising his season total to 36 in 32 2/3 innings. Despite the impressive numbers, the sinkerballer told CSNNE.com that he's still interested in pitching to contact as his primary means of retiring batters. "I've never been a strikeout pitcher. When we get to two strikes then we'll take our shots," he said. "It’s really more mixing speeds, changing eye levels and just trying to induce contact to get quick outs."
While Porcello has enjoyed a memorable start to the 2016 season, Pineda dropped his third straight decision on Saturday despite yielding just two runs on five hits versus the Red Sox. The 27-year-old Dominican, who hasn't won since his season-opening start on April 6, tossed 106 pitches to labor through five innings in his last outing. As for positives, Pineda did keep the ball in the park though, after allowing four homers in his previous contest.
WALK-OFFS
1. Boston LF Brock Holt went 4-for-10 with four runs scored and two RBIs during last weekend's series versus New York.
2. New York CF Jacoby Ellsbury had two doubles among his three hits versus his former team in last weekend's series.
3. Red Sox 1B Hanley Ramirez has nine RBIs and six runs scored during his nine-game hitting streak.