After an eventful night, to say the least, the Yankees will look to take the rubber game of their three-game set against the rivaled Boston Red Sox.
- New York Yankees (6-6)
- Boston Red Sox (9-2)
- American League, 7:10 p.m. ET, YES Network
- Fenway Park, Boston, Massachusetts
Last night’s game brought back the rivalry when the Yankees’ Tyler Austin charged the mound after being drilled by a 98mph fastball from Red Sox pitcher Joe Kelly leading to a bench-clearing brawl. Words were exchanged, punches were thrown, and players (and one coach) were ejected.
More importantly, last night saw the return of real Giancarlo Stanton and Gary Sanchez. After struggling heavily through the first 11 games of the year the two sluggers combined for six hits and drove in seven of the team’s ten runs.
The Yankees hope the two sluggers have finally found their stroke and put their struggles behind them.
More good news for the Yankees’ offense is Aaron Hicks returns to the lineup tonight after missing the last ten games with an Intercostal muscle strain. Hicks will DH and bat sixth tonight.
On the mound and looking to win the series for the Yankees will be Sonny Gray. The Yankees hope to see more of the Gray they saw last Saturday against Baltimore. The righty delivered a quality start, tossing six innings of three-run ball. It was an impressive outing for Gray who needed to give the Yankees length following a devastating 14 inning loss the night before.
Rick Porcello will take the ball for the Red Sox. After a disappointing 2017, Porcello has gotten off to a nice start in 2018, going 2-0 with a 2.84 ERA in the early going.
Lineups
Yankees at Red Sox tonight at 7:10pm on @YESNetwork and WFAN pic.twitter.com/qxOlMZiWJ2
— Yankees PR Dept. (@YankeesPR) April 12, 2018
Player To Watch
Brett Gardner
Thursday night’s Player to Watch is Brett Gardner who has been hot of late. The longest tenured Yankee is 6 for his last 12 (.500) and is hitting .357 overall in his last seven games. Gardy has also seen success against Porcello over his career hitting .304 with two home runs against the former Cy Young award winner in 46 at-bats.
Hitting in front of Aaron Judge, Didi Gregorius, Stanton, and Sanchez, who have all been swinging the bat well this series, Gardner is sure to get a lot of pitches to hit.