New York Yankees: Full-blown Division Series preview, predictions, game breakdowns, and more
Game Two
Yankees @ Red Sox
Masahiro Tanaka vs. David Price
Fenway Park, Boston, MA
8:15 EST Saturday
Game 2 in Boston will put Masahiro Tanaka on the mound for the Yankees with David Price for the Red Sox.
Fortunately for the Yankees, David Price has been horrible against the Bombers from the Bronx.
Unfortunately for the Yankees, Masahiro Tanaka hasn’t been too great against their foes from Boston.
Tanaka is 2-2 against the Red Sox so far this year as he has let up 16 earned runs between the four games on 29 hits. Not quite the numbers you’d hope for from your game two starter, but the Yankees have done just enough to get two wins in his four starts.
However, even though Masahiro Tanaka hasn’t been great against Boston, David Price has been much, much worse against the Yankees.
Price has faced off against the Yankees four times this season losing three of the four matchups. In those same four games, the Yankees have scored 18 earned runs against the Red Sox while also going for 21 hits.
Between those four starts, Price only went a total of 15.2 innings, about 4-2/3 innings for those doing the math at home.
With this being said, you can expect there to be a lot of offense when the Yankees and Red Sox face off on Saturday night.
Prediction: Yankees 6 Red Sox 5
Game 2 will be a very close game as both sides jump on the opposite pitcher early and often. You can expect Price to go no more than four innings on three or more runs before giving way to the bullpen.
On the other side of the ball, you can expect Tanaka to last about six letting up a few runs around the fourth and fifth innings before being pulled.
The Yankees come away with a 6-5 win, tying up the series as it shifts to the Bronx.
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Game Three
Red Sox @ Yankees
Rick Porcello vs. TBD
Yankee Stadium, Bronx, NY
7:40 EST Monday, October 8th
The Yankees have yet to name their game three starter, but it will likely be either Luis Severino or CC Sabathia.
On the other side of the ball, the Red Sox will throw Rick Porcello on the mound to take the series lead.
If the Yankees do put Luis Severino on the mound, you can expect the tenure to be short as they may attempt to save him for game five if the series gets that far.
Severino has been fantastic lately, especially in the Wild Card game when he went four innings allowing only two hits and no runs.
If they put Sabathia on the mound, you can expect them to be a bit more relaxed as they will likely put Severino or Happ on the mound for Game 4 with the other going in Game 5.
On the other side, the Red Sox will put Rick Porcello on the mound who has been off and on against the Yankees in 2018.
Porcello has pitched against the Yankees four times this year, letting up only six runs, with two of the four games being shutouts.
However, in one of these shutouts Porcello went only two innings before being pulled.
Prediction: Yankees 3 Red Sox 2
In Game 3, the Yankees will opt to go with Luis Severino over CC Sabathia.
Severino will then go for a strong five innings before being pulled after not letting up a run on only three hits.
When he turns the ball over to the bullpen, the Red Sox will manage to score two runs but still come up short.
On the other side of the ball, Rick Porcello will throw five strong innings before letting up two runs in the sixth.
The Red Sox will then pull him and let up a home run to Giancarlo Stanton, putting the Yankees in the lead giving them just enough for the win.