After last night’s thrilling comeback victory by the New York Yankees (25-13), CC Sabathia (4-2, 3.71 ERA) looks to finish off the Boston Red Sox (19-20) for the time being.
Going into Tuesday night, the Red Sox are already eight-and-a-half games out of first place in the American League East.
However, the Yankees aren’t actually the leader of the East at the moment. The red hot Tampa Bay Rays (27-11) are two games ahead of the Bronx Bombers.
Still, with a victory tonight, the Yankees would move to 6-2 on the season against the Red Sox, and don’t play them again until August 6 at Yankee Stadium.
With the start to the season that the Red Sox have had, I think it is crucial that they get a victory here and move back to .500 on the season, and give them some confidence going forward.
They will need Josh Beckett (1-1, 7.46 ERA) to pitch like an ace to do so.
In a rematch from opening day, Beckett and Sabathia look to both have better performances as they yielded five earned runs each in early exits for their respective clubs.
It is worth noting that Josh Beckett last faced the Yankees at Fenway Park on May 7, and was torched for nine earned runs in five innings of work, and received the loss. This was also the last time Beckett has pitched until tonight.
Meanwhile, CC Sabathia pitched somewhat better on May 8 against the Red Sox.
However, he received a no-decision due to a rain delay with one strike remaining in the count on the current batter to make it an official game, and to pitch the minimum of five innings to receive a victory.
Unfortunately for CC Sabathia and the red hot Yankees, mother nature may be a factor tonight as rain is in the forecast for most of the evening.
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