Red Sox at Yankees
The New York Yankees are making sure they won't have to worry about the rival Boston Red Sox sneaking up on them in the American League East. The Yankees will try to polish off a three-game sweep and push their lead over the Red Sox to double figures when they host the finale of a rain-shortened, three-game series on Sunday.
Boston grabbed an early lead in the first two games of the series, only to have New York's powerful bats step up to grab back the advantage and its power arms lock down the game over the last several innings. The Yankees, who are winners of 15 of their last 18 contests, lead the Red Sox by 9 1/2 games in the AL East and sit 2 1/2 games clear of Tampa Bay. Boston (29-29) fell back to .500 with Saturday's 5-3 defeat, which marked its fourth consecutive loss and dropped it to 2-6 in a stretch of games against 2018 postseason participants Houston, Cleveland and New York. The Red Sox will try to avoid the sweep on Sunday behind left-hander David Price while Yankees lefty CC Sabathia completes the matchup of former Cy Young Award winners.
TV: 7:05 p.m. ET, ESPN
PITCHING MATCHUP: Red Sox LH David Price (2-2, 2.83 ERA) vs. Yankees LH CC Sabathia (3-1, 3.48)
Price has not allowed an earned run in any of his three starts since coming off the injured list, although one of those outings lasted only two-thirds of an inning before he was removed due to illness. The Vanderbilt product sat through a rain delay on Tuesday against Cleveland but ended up scattering three hits over six scoreless innings before watching the bullpen squander the lead in a 7-5 setback. Price went 0-3 with a 10.34 ERA in four starts against New York during the 2018 regular season, including a pair of losses at Yankee Stadium.
Sabathia is making his first start since May 22 after hitting the injured list due to his troublesome left knee. The 38-year-old is being worked carefully in his final season and has yet to pitch into the seventh inning or reach 100 pitches in eight turns. Sabathia went 1-0 with a 4.50 ERA in three regular-season starts against Boston last season but lost his lone start in the AL Division Series, surrendering three runs in as many innings in the decisive Game 4.
WALK-OFFS
1. The Red Sox placed 1B Steve Pearce (back) on the 10-day injured list Saturday.
2. Yankees SS Didi Gregorius (elbow) played nine innings in the field for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes Barre on Saturday and could return to the majors next week.
3. Boston will bat RF Mookie Betts leadoff for the rest of the season, according to manager Alex Cora.