YGY Series Preview Show Rewind: Yankees-Red Sox (9/26-9/28)

*Editor’s Note: This episode was recorded Wednesday night, before Derek Jeter’s final home game *

On this episode of the Yanks Go Yard Series Preview Show, brought to you by Knoda.com, I started off the episode by talking about what had happened for the New York Yankees (82-77) in the first three games of their series with the Baltimore Orioles. Even though the Yankees lost two of the first three games, the memory for all Yankees’ fans from this series is always going to be Derek Jeter’s final sendoff as the Captain drove in three runs and had the walk-off single in his final at-bat at Yankee Stadium on Thursday night.

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As for the other highlights of this series, Michael Pineda had an impressive performance in Monday night’s win, giving up only one hit, in 7.1 innings of work, and striking out eight Orioles’ hitters. He was one of the bright spots along with Hiroki Kuroda. On Thursday night, Kuroda gave up home runs to the first two Baltimore Orioles’ hitters, but proceeded to dominate the rest of the night, as he went eight innings (one inning short of 200 for the season), gave up two runs on three hits, walked two, and struck out nine batters. While Jeter had a great four-game series (4-for-17, 6 RBI), third baseman Chase Headley had a great series himself, as he went 5-for-12 with two home runs and two RBI.

With the home slate for the Yankees now over, the team heads to Fenway Park for their final three games of the season without Jacoby Ellsbury and Carlos Beltran. They will be taking on a Red Sox team that is also looking to finish off the season, but will be honoring the Captain as well. The series may not have the same feel to it, especially with the possibility of not seeing David Ortiz (.263, 35 HRs. 104 RBI), who is dealing with a wrist injury.

As for the rest of the Boston Red Sox (70-89), it has been a long season for John Farrell and the defending World Series Champions. Despite those struggles, Boston is looking to end its season on a good note, as they have scored 11 runs in each of their last two games. The focus for general manager Ben Cherington and the organization has been on new center fielder, Rusney Castillo. The 27-year-old Cuban outfielder is hitting .222 in his first seven games, but did hit his first Major League home run in the team’s win on Thursday.

September has also brought around improvement in two potential building blocks for the team. Second baseman/outfielder Mookie Betts is hitting .310 this month, and has a hit in five of his last six games, while shortstop Xander Bogaerts is hitting .317, with four home runs and 16 RBI. Of course, the question for the Red Sox this winter is going to be around their starting pitching, as they try to rebuild a rotation that is without Jon Lester and John Lackey, who were both traded on the July 31st deadline. The Red Sox pitching as a whole is 23rd in ERA (4.00) and has a 4.26 ERA in September (Yankees at 3.31).

For this episode, I spoke with a good friend of the show, Sean Sylver, the co-editor of BoSox Injection. On the episode, we talked about what Sean’s memories of Derek Jeter would be, as well as how he would grade the Red Sox season that has seen the team in the last three seasons go from last to first then back to last place. Here are some of the other topics we discussed on the show:

• Sean’s first impressions of Rusney Castillo in the Major Leagues
• Who has stood out for the Red Sox in September?
• Should Jeter be playing in Boston for the final three games of the season? How will Boston honor his career?
• David Ortiz having a great under-the-radar season
• Pitching Matchups
• Why the Yankees should use Bryan Mitchell instead of Chris Capuano on Friday
• Capuano giving up four earned runs in each of his last two starts and eight runs in two games vs. Boston
• What to watch for in terms of Boston’s starting pitcher on Friday, Steven Wright
•  Joe Kelly (Saturday’s Red Sox’ starter) has thrown 6+ innings in each of his last five starts, but struggling with command
• What should Yankees’ fans expect from Masahiro Tanaka on Saturday in his final start of the season
• The disappointment that has been Clay Buchholz for the Red Sox (Sunday’s Red Sox’ starter)
• Michael Pineda (Sunday’s Yankees’ starter) going back to the place where he was ejected for pine tar
• Red Sox’ Players To Watch (Sean: Matt Barnes and David Ortiz,  Me: Yoenis Cespedes and Garin Cecchini)
• Yankees’ Players To Watch: Brian McCann and Jose Pirela

Click here to listen to the show!!!!