This season the New York Yankes have found plenty of success while playing the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. Friday was no different as Alex Rodriguez drove in two runs plus hit a home run for the Yankees fifth straight win over the Red Sox. They have won all four Fenway Park meetings so far this season and they look to extend that to five as the two teams face off on Saturday.
The Yankees batting averaging is only a combined .230 in the month of July, but the team is finding ways to score runs, averaging at least five per game. Rodriguez is certainly helping the effort. He is batting .360 with two home runs and eight RBI in seven games against Boston this year. The batting averaging will have a new face as prospect Rob Refsnyder will make his debut at second base. He was hitting .290 with seven home runs in Triple-A.
The Yankees will put Ivan Nova on the mound to keep momentum going. He is currently 1-2 with a 2.65 ERA. The Yankees are not hitting well when he is on the mound. Over his past two starts, the pitcher has gotten almost no run support while struggling with consistency. Since making his return in June, he has gotten increasingly worse. He allowed four runs, six hits and three hits against the Tampa Bay Rays. Mike Napoli has two hits in six at-bats against the pitcher.
The Boston Red Sox will counter with Eduardo Rodriguez who is 4-2 with a 3.69 ERA and facing the Yankees for the first time. He is taking the spot of Clay Buchholz who is facing trade rumors and injury issues. The star has elbow tightness that will be evaluated in the coming days. Rodriguez has allowed a run in each of his last two starts while striking out eight in his last start. According to ESPN, he is the first Red Sox pitcher since 1920 to give up just one or no runs in six of his first eight starts. He will have run support to back him up as Boston is averaging 6.8 per game.