Red Sox at Yankees
The New York Yankees entered the weekend as baseball's most homer-happy team and the Boston Red Sox entered as the majors' highest-scoring offense, but only one of them showed up in the series opener. After pulling into a virtual tie with Boston atop the American League East with a resounding victory Friday, the Yankees attempt to regain the division lead Saturday when they host the second of three games against the Red Sox.
In a battle between the two teams with the best records in baseball, New York (53-26) connected on four home runs in an 8-1 victory - including two solo shots from Greg Bird after belting three in his first 28 games - stymying a Boston offense averaging a league-best 5.1 runs. Miguel Andujar and Aaron Judge also got in on the fun with two-run blasts to help CC Sabathia improve to 12-0 in his last 18 regular-season starts following a Yankees' loss. The Red Sox (55-28) struggled to find any offense in the first contest to begin a nine-game road trip after averaging 7.4 runs over their previous seven outings. J.D. Martinez - the majors' leader in homers (25) and RBIs (64) - went 0-for-4 in the opener and is hitless in his last two contests after going 13-for-26 with three home runs and nine RBIs during a six-game hitting streak.
TV: 7:15 p.m. ET, FOX
PITCHING MATCHUP: Red Sox LH Chris Sale (7-4, 2.56 ERA) vs. Yankees RH Sonny Gray (5-5, 4.93)
Sale was about as dominant as he has been all season in Sunday's win against Seattle, allowing four hits and a walk while fanning 13 across seven scoreless innings. The six-time All-Star threw 71 of his 93 pitches for strikes and hasn't given up a homer over his last four outings, yielding a total of four runs and striking out 43 in 28 frames over that span. Judge is 3-for-15 with a homer and 10 strikeouts against Sale, who tossed six innings of one-run ball in a win versus the Yankees on April 10.
Gray is enjoying easily his best month of the season (2-1, 3.23 ERA), but he is coming off his first loss in five trips to the mound after permitting four runs over 6 2/3 frames at Tampa Bay last Saturday. The Vanderbilt product has struggled mightily at home in 2018, going 2-2 with a 7.22 ERA while allowing opponents to bat .309 in those seven turns. Mitch Moreland (8-for-27, four homers) has been a thorn in the side of Gray, who surrendered six runs over three innings in a loss at Boston on April 12.
WALK-OFFS
1. The Yankees boast a 2.30 team ERA in June - the best in the majors.
2. Friday marked the end of Martinez's nine-game road hitting streak in this rivalry and also halted a seven-game run-scoring streak overall.
3. New York is a league-best 19-5 against left-handed starters, winning each of its last seven games against southpaws.