The Red Sox make their final visit of the season to the new Yankee Stadium this weekend. The season series now stands at 9-6 in favor of Boston, meaning they've already clinched a split of the season series (despite losing six of the last seven). The Yankees seem to have the advantage heads up lately, but since the four game sweep in Yankee Stadium, Boston has the best record in the Majors at 29-13. Most of that is due to Clay Buchholz solidifying the third starter spot and the combination of Victor Martinez, Jason Bay, and David Ortiz all being hot at the plate. Honestly, this series matters very little in the grand scheme of things. The season series is settled, both teams are essentially locks for playoff spots, and both teams will probably be more focused on setting their rosters for the playoffs than anything. Obviously, Red Sox - Yankees is always big, especially with fans, but unless something big happens (benches clearing brawl, Joba trying to hit Youk again, injury, etc), the real action will be in the ALCS in October (hopefully).
Friday 7:10 NESN Jon Lester (14-7, 3.33 ERA) vs Joba Chamberlain (8-6, 4.72 ERA)
Saturday 4:10 FOX Daisuke Matsuzaka (3-5, 6.80 ERA) vs CC Sabathia (18-7, 3.31 ERA)
Sunday 1:10 ESPN Paul Byrd (1-2, 6.04 ERA) vs Andy Pettitte (13-7, 4.15)
GAME 1
Lester appeared a bit more human in his last start, giving up 10 hits in 6 innings, but there's no reason for concern. He's still a bonafide ace and big game pitcher and should certainly deliver another quality start, if not a gem. Joba has really struggled since August 1st when the Joba Rules kicked in, with a 7.87 ERA and barely 3 innings per start. The general consensus is that his confidence is shot not being able to pitch without one eye on his pitch count and the other on who's in the pen behind him. Even before the innings concern these past two months, Joba still didn't have good numbers against Boston, so a betting man would pick this game as the best chance for a Sox win.
GAME 2
Daisuke Matsuzaka has been a new man since his return from the DL, granted that neither of his two starts came against New York. In two starts, he's put up a line of 11.1 IP, 11 hits, 3 ER, 10/4 K/BB. Much better numbers and his pitch counts have been much more manageable. It's not necessarily about getting the W in this game for Dice-K, as long as he can mix up his pitches and hit his spots with regularity. The Bombers have an intense lineup and it's tough to imagine a guy with just a couple recent starts under his belt holding them scoreless (unless your name rhymes with Shmunichi Shmazawa). CC is CC; he'll probably finish the year with most wins in the AL and possibly steal the Cy Young away from a more deserving Zack Greinke, but none of it matters unless he does it in October.
GAME 3
Paul Byrd has been a decent innings eater for Boston lately, giving up big innings early, but working his way through five or six innings to save the bullpen. As long as he keeps from having to burn the bullpen, the results are secondary. Andy Pettitte pitches well against Boston, especially at home, so things don't look great for the Sox, but that's why they play the games.
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