After a thrilling come-from-behind extra-inning victory in Friday night’s series opener – the first time in at least 115 years that the Red Sox won a road game against the Yankees when they trailed by multiple runs with two outs in the ninth – they’re back at Yankee Stadium on Saturday afternoon for the second of three games with their greatest foes.
Though perhaps ‘greatest’ isn’t an apt description of the Yankees these days. Whereas the Red Sox are 15-5 over their last 20 games, the Yankees are 5-15, the worst record in the Majors over that span. On June 12, the Yankees were 14 games ahead of the Red Sox in the standings; they enter Saturday’s game with that lead down to a 4.5.
Red Sox lineup (July 6)
Jarren Duran LF
David Hamilton SS
Wilyer Abreu RF
Rafael Devers 3B
Enmanuel Valdez 2B
Masataka Yoshida DH
Reese McGuire C
Dom Smith 1B
Ceddanne Rafaela CF
Yankees lineup (July 6)
Ben Rice 1B
Juan Soto DH
Aaron Judge RF
Alex Verdugo LF
Anthony Volpe SS
Trent Grisham CF
Jose Trevino C
Oswaldo Cabrera 2B
DJ LeMahieu 3B
Probable starting pitchers for Red Sox @ Yankees (July 6): RHP Josh Winckowski vs. RHP Gerrit Cole
Josh Winckowski is making his second start (third game overall) for the Red Sox since being recalled from Triple-A on June 25. The right-hander coming off five shutout innings against the Padres at Fenway last Sunday, a performance in which he held San Diego to four hits, struck out one, and didn’t issue a walk. (And it only took him 58 pitches.)
Winckowski is facing a Yankees lineup that, with the exception of Judge and Soto, is hitting .202 with .280 on-base and .316 slugging percentages since June 15.
Since signing with the Yankees ahead of the 2020 season, Gerrit Cole owns a 5.16 ERA over 12 regular-season starts against the Red Sox, with 19 walks and 89 strikeouts over 68 innings. They’re hitting .250/.305/.508 against him, with 64 hits, 12 doubles, and 18 home runs, the most he’s given up to any team since donning the pinstripes. Seven of those round-trippers belong to Rafael Devers; he’s yet to take any other pitcher yard more than three times.
Cole has yet to make a clean start coming off the injured list. Over his first three games of the season, the reigning AL Cy Young allowed nine earned runs (6.23 ERA) on 13 hits, four homers, six walks, and 11 strikeouts. (Six of those runs, however, came in the middle outing.)
How to watch Red Sox vs. Yankees (July 6)
When: 1:05 p.m. ET
Where: Yankee Stadium
TV (Blackout restrictions may apply): NESN, YES, FS1 (National)
Red Sox radio: WEEI 93.7 FM, WCCM 1490 AM (Spanish)
Yankees radio: WFAN 660/101.9 FM, WADO 1280
