The host Boston Red Sox have an opportunity on Sunday afternoon to sweep the New York Yankees for the first time in a three-game series since August 2023.
After beating New York 4-3 on Saturday, the Red Sox have a four-game winning streak and have defeated the Yankees four straight times. The Red Sox have won seven of their past nine games overall to get back to .500.
Former Yankees catcher Carlos Narvaez has done damage for Boston in the first two games of the series. He singled in the winning run in the 10th inning Friday.
On Saturday, he doubled and singled off starter Carlos Rodon, walked and scored a run. He also squashed a Yankees threat in the seventh when he threw out Jasson Dominguez at third base after he’d been picked off and was headed to third.
“This is big time, these games against the Yankees,” Narvaez said Saturday. “They are my former team, but I am just trying to do my job. (Carlos) Rodon is a great pitcher, and he is having a great year, so I just tried to put the ball in play.”
Shortstop Trevor Story has been carrying the Boston offense for the past week. In his last seven games, he is 12-for-31 (.387) with two home runs and nine RBIs.
In the veteran’s five games against the Yankees, he is 8-for-21 (.381) with one home run and seven RBIs. That includes 2-for-4 with two doubles, a run and an RBI on Saturday.
“It’s a step in the right direction,” Story said of Boston moving back to .500. “We kind of dug ourselves a little hole early on. This is a point that we have to get to to get to where we want to be. So yeah, we feel good right now, looking to ride this momentum and keep pitching well and keeping hitting well, and we can win a lot of games that way.”
The Red Sox also have caught Yankees star Aaron Judge in a bit of a lull. His solo home run on Friday is his only hit of the series, and he’s 1-for-8 with six strikeouts.
The Yankees will send Max Fried (9-1, 1.84 ERA) to the mound Sunday. The former Atlanta Braves left-hander, who signed an eight-year, $218 million contract with the Yankees in the offseason, has struck out 81 and walked only 18 in 88 innings over 14 starts. He has allowed six home runs.
Fried has allowed two runs or less in all but one of his starts this season, but he gives the Yankees’ offense a lot of credit for his hot start.
“We have an extremely explosive offense, and when they put up 10 runs, it makes my job easier,” Fried said Tuesday after a 10-2 win over the Kansas City Royals in most recent start. “You just go a little bit more on the attack, you don’t want to give them free passes, and you try to avoid the big inning.”
Fried is 2-0 lifetime against the Red Sox with a 3.00 ERA. He has not faced Boston this season.
Boston will counter with Brayan Bello (2-1, 3.96), who lacks Fried’s strong strikeout-to-walk ratio. The Red Sox right-hander has struck out 37 and walked 25 in 52 1/3 innings in 10 starts.
Bello is 3-3 in eight career starts against the Yankees with a 2.54 ERA. He has not faced them this season.
–Field Level Media
