SportsPulse: In this week's who's hot, who's not, MLB insider Bob Nightengale explains how one New York team has caught lightning in a bottle, while the other looks lost. USA TODAY Sports
This time there’s no need to hype a Yankees-Red Sox series.
Until last year, the longtime rivals took turns rising and falling in the standings. The 2017 season marked the first time in this decade that Boston and New York finished 1-2 in the American League East – after doing so eight times in the previous decade – and their first visit to the playoffs in the same year since 2009.
Now they’re 1-2 in the majors, not just in record but in runs scored, making this week’s nationally televised three-game set at Yankee Stadium all the more enticing.
This series marks the first time the Red Sox (25-9) and Yankees (24-10) play each other with the two best records in baseball since June 2, 2002, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
Here are three elements to look for when the Red Sox bring their sparkling 14-5 road record into the most hostile of territories.
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The youngsters
New York keeps expanding its group of “Baby Bombers,’’ which now also includes the likes of second baseman Gleyber Torres and third baseman Miguel Andujar.
Two days after Andujar played the hero’s role in a walkoff win over the Indians, the 21-year-old Torres did him one better by becoming the youngest Yankees player to hit a game-ending homer Sunday. That same day, fellow rookie Domingo German tossed six no-hit innings in his first career start.
Youthful contributions have a way of energizing a club, and the Yankees have ridden that enthusiasm to a stunning stretch of 15 wins in their last 16 games – mostly against strong competition – to close within a game of Boston.
The Red Sox don’t have such prominent rookies, but second-year players like left fielder Andrew Benintendi and third baseman Rafael Devers have become lineup staples and figure to impact the rivalry for years to come. Devers, 21, ranks third on the team with 23 RBI.
The matchups
Not only are the Yankees riding a scorching stretch – outscoring opponents 98-37 in the last 16 games – but they have the rotation lined up perfectly with their top three starters. Luis Severino, Masahiro Tanaka and CC Sabathia have gone a combined 11-3 with a 2.69 ERA, and none has lost a game since April 18.
Severino, the starter in Tuesday’s series opener, has been on a remarkable roll, registering a 1.24 ERA in his last four outings and holding opponents to a microscopic .143 batting average. However, his lone defeat came at the hands of the Red Sox, who punished him for eight hits and five runs over five innings on April 10.
Boston ace Chris Sale pitched a 12-strikeout beauty Sunday in a 6-1 victory over the Rangers that extended the Red Sox’s winning streak to three games, so he won’t get to face the Yankees. Instead, lefties Drew Pomeranz and David Price will take the mound for Boston ahead of Rick Porcello, who will start Thursday’s finale.
Porcello (5-0, 2.14 ERA) is back to flashing his Cy Young Award form of 2016, but both Pomeranz and Price have ERAs above 5.00, and the Yankees own the league’s second-highest OPS against left-handers at .786.
The Mookie factor
Boston right fielder Mookie Betts, the major league leader in batting average (.355), home runs (13) and OPS (1.252), left Sunday’s game with a bruised shoulder and is day-to-day. He has been known to take over games all by himself – witness his two three-homer games this season – so his absence would be huge.
In assembling the game’s second-most potent offense to date (5.65 runs a game, a tad below the Yankees’ average of 5.79), the Red Sox have gotten help from several sources. J.D. Martinez has made a smoot transition to his new surroundings and leads them with 27 RBI. He’s one of four Boston players boasting an OPS of .949 or above, along with Betts, Mitch Moreland and Xander Bogaerts.
Betts is the catalyst, though, impacting games with his bat, glove and legs, and the biggest reason for Boston’s 25-9 record. The series changes if he’s limited.
