Yankees at Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox edged out the rival New York Yankees for the American League East title last season and started 2018 in a similar fashion, rolling to wins in eight of the first nine games. The Red Sox will test themselves against their rivals for the first time this season when they host the Yankees on Tuesday in the opener of a three-game series.
Boston is leaning on its pitching staff in the early going but watched the offense come alive with a six-run rally in the eighth inning on Sunday to secure an 8-7 win along with a sweep of the Tampa Bay Rays and is beginning to see more production from slugger J.D. Martinez, who will get his first taste of the rivalry after signing in the offseason. "It should be awesome," Martinez told mlb.com. "Obviously, I can't speak from experience, but from what I see on TV, it looks like it's going to be a lot of fun." The move to sign Martinez was in part a response to the Yankees adding reigning National League MVP Giancarlo Stanton, who is off to a slow start with his new club, but the veterans with New York are looking forward to introducing the rest of the team to the rivalry. "It's always a great atmosphere up there," Yankees outfielder Brett Gardner said, according to mlb.com. "We've got a lot of young guys who experienced that for the first time last year or will for the first time this year. It's an exciting place to play. They've got a really good team this year, and I'm sure we'll be battling those guys for 19 games."
TV: 7:10 p.m. ET, ESPN, YES (New York), NESN (Boston)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Yankees RH Luis Severino (2-0, 1.38 ERA) vs. Red Sox LH Chris Sale (0-0, 0.82)
Severino breezed through 5 2/3 scoreless innings at Toronto on Opening Day and surrendered two runs over 7 1/3 frames against Tampa Bay to earn his second win on Wednesday. The 24-year-old struck out 14 and yielded a total of six hits in those two turns. Severino went 2-1 with a 3.33 ERA in four starts against Boston last season and was particularly effective at Fenway Park, posting a 0.64 ERA in two outings.
Sale struck out 15 and walked three in his first two starts but had some trouble keeping his pitch count down and totaled just 11 innings without factoring in either decision. The Florida native made his first two starts in his home state at Tampa Bay and Miami and is returning to Boston, where he posted a 7-3 record with a 3.16 ERA in 13 starts last season. Sale went 0-3 in five starts against New York last season despite posting a 2.65 ERA and 50 strikeouts in 34 innings.
WALK-OFFS
1. Stanton went 0-for-7 with five strikeouts on Sunday and is 3-for-30 with 17 k's in the last seven games.
2. Boston SS Xander Bogaerts (ankle) was placed on the 10-day disabled list on Monday.
3. New York took the season series 11-8 last season.