Yanks Go Yard Radio Show Rewind: Yankees-Red Sox Preview (8/31-9/2)

By Ricky Keeler | Aug 31, 2015

On last night’s episode of the Yanks Go Yard Radio Show, I started off the episode by talking about the New York Yankees (72-57) and their offensive resurgence against the Atlanta Braves over the weekend. In their three game sweep of the Braves, the Bronx Bombers scored 38 runs, including 15+ runs in two of those three games.

While Brian McCann did hit a home run in his return to Atlanta, the star of the weekend on offense was shortstop Didi Gregorius. Gregorius was 7-for-12 in the three games against the Braves with three runs scored, one home run, and eight RBI’s. While New York didn’t gain ground on the Blue Jays in the AL East or even increased their lead on the Rangers for the first AL Wild Card spot, they were able to win their first series of this six game road trip.

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Now, New York is in Boston to take on a Red Sox squad that is 60-70 and in last in the AL East, but they took two out of three from the New York Mets at Citi Field over the weekend. First off, our thoughts and prayers from all of us at YGY are with John Farrell as the Red Sox manager is battling stage one lymphoma. Torey Lovullo is the acting manager of the team while Farrell is recovering.

There has been a change in Boston since the team hired former Tigers’ general manager Dave Dombrowski to be the new team president. They are looking for the next general manager as Ben Cherington is no longer the GM for the Red Sox. Since the All-Star Break, the Red Sox are 18-23, but they are 14-12 this month. One of the keys to Boston being an over .500 team this month is their offense.

In fact, before the Yankees scored 20 runs yesterday, the Red Sox had scored more runs than New York since the All-Star Break. Boston’s 213 runs are the fourth most in baseball and third in the American League behind New York and Toronto. David Ortiz (.264, 28 HR, 79 RBI’s) is hitting .333 with 13 home runs and 36 RBI’s in his last 39 games.

On the mound, the Red Sox do have the same pitching struggles. The starters have not been the biggest problem for Boston as Joe Kelly is 6-0 this month with a 2.68 ERA. It’s been the bullpen that has been for Boston as Jean Machi is now the closer with Koji Uehara out due to injury and Junichi Tazawa walked four guys in the tenth inning Friday night’s win over the Mets. The Red Sox have a bullpen ERA of 4.28, which is the fifth highest in the American League.

To preview this week’s series at Fenway Park, I spoke with Sean Sylver from the radio station, 98.5 The Sports Hub, to get his take on the Dombrowski hire, the Hanley Ramirez situation (out last three days with a shoulder injury), and the emergence of outfielder Jackie Bradley Jr. Bradley Jr. is hitting .302 with five home runs and 24 RBI’s in his last 28 games. Here are the other topics we discussed:

Red Sox taking 2 of 3 against Harvey, deGrom, and Syndergaard
Why Sean is skeptical about the Dombrowski hire
Are Hanley’s days in Boston numbered
Pitching Matchup Breakdown
Eduardo Rodriguez (tonight’s Red Sox starter) has had 11+ groundball outs in his last five starts
Ivan Nova (tonight’s Yankees starter) coming off his worst outing of the season against Houston
Rick Porcello (tomorrow’s Red Sox starter) making his second start since ocoming off the DL
Michael Pineda (tomorrow’s Yankees starter) looking to get his slider and changeup working
Henry Owens (Wednesday’s Red Sox starter) had four walks and threw 108 pitches in his last start
Masahiro Tanaka (Wednesday’s Yankees starter) has had a better August than what you would think
Red Sox hitters to watch: David Ortiz and Rusney Castillo
Yankees hitters to watch: Didi Gregorius and Jacoby Ellsbury
Boston’s bullpen woes continue

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