The last time the New York Yankees saw Walker Buehler, he was closing out the World Series in Game 5 for the Los Angeles Dodgers and celebrating on the field.
On Friday, the Yankees will see Buehler in a new uniform. Now with the Red Sox, the right-hander enters the rivalry of American League East foes when Boston begins its season series in New York.
The Yankees head into their first of six meetings with Boston over the next two weekends on a 19-7 run since dropping three straight from May 3-5.
New York won a series for the eighth time in nine tries when it earned a 4-0 victory over the Cleveland Guardians on Thursday. Max Fried allowed one hit in six innings and Cody Bellinger raised his average to .317 (33-for-104) over his past 27 games by hitting a two-run homer and adding an RBI single.
Buehler (4-3, 4.44 ERA) returned from his second Tommy John surgery to help the Dodgers win the championship last year, then signed a one-year free agent deal with the Red Sox in December.
He started and pitched five innings in Game 3 of the World Series to put the Dodgers up three games to none, then got two strikeouts in a 1-2-3 ninth inning in Game 5, clinching a 7-6 win after the Yankees blew a five-run lead.
Buehler enters his first regular-season outing against the Yankees 0-2 with a 4.85 ERA over his past three starts. In his latest outing, Buehler allowed five runs on a season-high 10 hits in 5 2/3 innings during a 5-0 loss at Atlanta on Saturday.
Buehler’s new team is not nearly as dominant as the Dodgers. The Red Sox are struggling to win close games, as they are 6-17 in one-run games.
“Obviously been a tough start for them,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Thursday afternoon. “A lot of close games that they’ve been on the wrong side of. We really viewed them in spring training and even early in the season as like a really talented team and know what they’re capable of and feel like that can still be a reality for them.
“We feel like a really good, hungry club is going to be coming in here that hasn’t started out how certainly like they wanted to, but I feel like they’re very dangerous.”
Boston is 3-8 in its past 11 games since Rafael Devers had the game-ending single in the 10th inning to beat the Baltimore Orioles in the opener of a doubleheader on May 24. Since then, the Red Sox have lost all five of their one-run games, including a pair against the visiting Los Angeles Angels this week.
Boston avoided another close loss Wednesday when Ceddanne Rafaela hit a game-ending, two-run homer 308 feet down the right field line to cap an 11-9 victory. Rafaela has homered in three consecutive games.
“I’m really proud of this team for keeping at it,” Boston leadoff man Jarren Duran said. “We could have easily gotten down on ourselves after taking a lead, giving it up, taking the lead, giving it up. But as a team, we came together and we pulled off a W.”
Devers hit a game-tying single in the eighth inning as the Red Sox were 6-for-14 with runners in scoring position and finished with 12 hits. Boston had at least 10 hits in each game of the Angels series despite losing twice.
New York’s Will Warren (3-3, 5.19 ERA) will get his first taste of the rivalry as he attempts to bounce back from the toughest start of his career. After allowing two runs or fewer in four straight outings, Warren was shelled for seven runs on six hits in 1 1/3 innings during an 18-2 loss to the Dodgers on Saturday.
–Field Level Media
