Red Sox and Yankees Renew Classic Rivalry

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Red Sox and Yankees Renew Classic Rivalry

There may not be a more celebrated rivalry in all of sports than the long running feud between the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox. The teams first faced each other in 1901 and in the 110 years since then Boston and New York have met on the baseball field an astounding 2,098 times. With the first of three games set for Friday night, Saturday's contest will be the 2,100 matchup in the history of the rivalry. Heading into the weekend series the Yankees have a significant, though not overwhelming, all time edge with a 1,125–940–14 record for a .545 winning percentage. Saturday's game will take place at Yankee Stadium with Josh Beckett on the mound for the visitors facing New York lefthander C.C. Sabathia.

So far this season, the Yankees have been the significantly better of the two teams. New York is currently battling with the Tampa Bay Rays for first place in the AL East and has had one of the best records in the Majors all season long. They've also got a solid 13-6 record at Yankee Stadium as of midweek while the Red Sox are just 6-10 on the road. Boston got off to a dismal start this year and despite playing better in recent weeks have been unable to get above the .500 mark. Despite the superior performance of the 'Bronx Bombers' overall this season the Red Sox got the best of them in an earlier three game set at Fenway Park winning two of three games.

Veteran southpaw C.C. Sabathia has a respectable 2.89 ERA with 44 strikeouts this year and has pitched much better than his 3-2 record suggests. He's been done in several times by the Yankees' bullpen. At one point in the early part of the season he allowed a single earned run in two starts and somehow the Yankees managed to lose both His March 5 home start against Minnesota bordered on absurd—Sabathia pitched 7 innings of 2 hit, shutout baseball but didn’t factor into the decision as the Yankees bullpen bumbled away a brilliant performance by their starter.

Boston's Josh Beckett can sympathize with Sabathia's plight—he's pitched extremely well this year with a 1.99 ERA and 40 strikeouts but has only a 2-1 record. The Red Sox bats have let Beckett down on several occasions. He's allowed only 6 ER in his last four starts including none in his last two, but hasn't earned a decision in any of them. Part of the problem is obvious from a look at the bullpen stats—the Red Sox relief corps has just five saves this year ranking them #28 in all of Major League Baseball.

The Red Sox always play the Yankees tough regardless of their record, but New York is just the better team this season. We look for them to avenge the earlier series loss in Boston this weekend and expect them to win at least two of the three games including this one. Could be a good spot for a play on the UNDER as well.