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Boston Red Sox: Yankees series puts top spot in AL East up for grabs

By Logan Jakubajtys

Jun 3, 2017; Baltimore, MD, USA; Boston Red Sox starting pitcher David Price (24) throws a pitch to a Baltimore Orioles batter in the first inning during a game at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: Patrick McDermott-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 3, 2017; Baltimore, MD, USA; Boston Red Sox starting pitcher David Price (24) throws a pitch to a Baltimore Orioles batter in the first inning during a game at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: Patrick McDermott-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Boston Red Sox will begin a three-game series against the New York Yankees tomorrow with a chance to take over first place in the AL East.

As it stands now, the Yankees have a 2 game lead over the Boston Red Sox in the AL East, but that hopefully won’t last long. If the Red Sox can win this series, or even sweep it, they’ll be tied for or solely in possession of first place.

Many think the 2017 Red Sox have underachieved so far, but if you look at the standings, it really hasn’t been so bad. At 31-25, Boston is just 2 games behind the Yankees in the division, and they have the third-best record in the American League. If they were in the AL Central they’d be in the lead, and if they were in the West they’d trail only the surprise Houston Astros.

If the season ended now the Red Sox would be in the playoffs as a Wild Card team, but that’s not where they plan to be when October comes.

Boston can get the ball rolling and take over the AL East lead with a strong series on the road in New York. It’ll be tough, as the Yankees have played great baseball so far this year, but it’s certainly not impossible.

Tuesday: Drew Pomeranz vs. Masahiro Tanaka

If this were last season, I’d say this is a clear win for the Yankees, but Pomeranz has turned things around in his last few starts. On the other side, Tanaka has begun to slip in 2017. He’s lacked consistency after a complete game shutout of the Red Sox on April 27th. Since then, Tanaka has an 8.42 ERA. In his last start against the Orioles, he gave up 7 earned runs on 9 hits.

Rumors have swirled in New York about a Tanaka injury, but manager Joe Girardi thinks it’s just inconsistency that’s plagued his pitcher.

"“I know we’ve talked about that a lot, but how do you explain the shutout in Boston? How do you explain his last game? If a guy is injured, he’s injured and there’s not going to be good starts. To me, it’s just the inconsistency. He hasn’t been consistent this year.”"

For the Red Sox, Drew Pomeranz seems to have found his groove. He’s delivered quality starts in his last two appearances, his last coming against the White Sox in a 4-1 win. Pomeranz has a combined 2.12 ERA with 25 strikeouts over his last three three starts.

Wednesday: Rick Porcello vs. CC Sabathia

Reigning Cy Young Award winner Rick Porcello has not been great lately, but he hasn’t been awful. A lot of his struggles have come due to lack of run support. Porcello dropped to 3-7 the other night in a 3-2 loss to the Orioles. He gave up some early long balls but was able to find his rhythm to stay in the game for a full 6 innings of work.

In his seven losses, run support for Porcello has been scarce. The Red Sox have strung together just 14 runs in those seven outings.

Porcello will hope that the bats continue to heat up. Andrew Benintendi seemingly found his swing in Baltimore with a pair of homeruns, while Jackie Bradley Jr. has also been swinging the bat nicely.

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Thursday: David Price vs. Michael Pineda

David Price, in only his second start of the year, was dominant against the Orioles. Price gave up one run over 7+ innings in Baltimore, allowing just 3 hits and striking out 7 batters. That is the David Price that Red Sox fans had hoped to see. Of note, he was also able to throw over 90 pitches, a milestone for a guy coming off of the DL with an elbow injury.

One AL scout that was in attendance had high praise for Price’s Saturday game.

"“Best I’ve seen him in two years. His stuff was crisp. He’s got life on his fastball that he didn’t have last year. He’s back.”"

Price himself expects to get even better though as he makes a few more starts.

"“You get six to seven starts in spring training before you have to start one. This was my fourth outing with an umpire, fourth outing with guys on base. I expect to get a lot better than this.”"

Next: Eduardo Rodriguez's season so far

This is a huge series for both Boston and New York, and the winner of the series could put themselves in a great position early in June. The Red Sox hope they’re on top of the AL East standings when all is said and done.

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