The Boston Red Sox face the New York Yankees on Thursday at 1 p.m. ET. Check out the live blog of this game with a pitch-by-pitch summary of all the action from Yankee Stadium as both teams get set to begin their 2013 season. If you can't watch the game, don't worry, we will provide a link to a play-by-play with scoring updates that will keep you close to the action.
The pitching matchup for this game features two left-handed veterans on the hill. For the Yankees, their workhorse, C.C. Sabathia takes the mound. He's coming into his fifth season with the Yankees. In all those years, he's gone at least 200 innings striking out over 190 players in each of those years. Sabathia is coming off a season where he pitched 200 innings posting a 15-6 record with 197 strikeouts as he wrapped up the year with a 3.38 ERA.
On the mound for the Red Sox, Jon Lester, who's trying to find his way back to the pitcher of old. He's coming off his worst performance of his career. Last year in 2012, Lester went 9-14 with a whopping 4.82 ERA in 205.1 innings pitched. In previous years, he had won at least 15 games per season. At age 29, he's entering his eighth season in the majors and will be playing for a possible extension or team option at the end of the year.
With all the Yankees' injuries, it look as though the Red Sox are the favorite to beat the Yanks in 2013. However, when the Yankees get their sluggers back, this will be the more dangerous team. Curtis Granderson and Teixeira are expected back at around May, Alex Rodriguez is out until the All-Start break. Derek Jeter, their captain and leader, is out with his broken foot, but will be given a chance to prove himself once again.
The Red Sox added talents like Shane Victorino, Mike Napoli and Ryan Dempster. They also traded for Joel Hanrahan. They hope Will Middlebrooks is ready to man third base as he's expected to form a huge part of this offense.
Now, for those stuck at work and watch the game, check out the live blog of the Yankees vs. Red Sox right here.
Click here for the game day updates brought to you by MLB.com
Stay tuned as we'll bring you lineups for both teams.
Red Sox Starting Lineup:
1. Ellsbury CF
2. Victorino RF
3. Pedroia 2B
4. Napoli 1B
5. Middlebrooks 3B
6. Saltalamacchia C
7. Gomes DH
8. Bradley Jr. LF
9. Iglesias SS
Yankees Starting Lineup:
1. Gardner CF
2. Nunez SS
3. Cano 2B
4. Youkilis
5. Wells LF
6. Francisco DH
7. Suzuki RF
8. Nix 3B
9. Cervelli C
