The New York Yankees have something to prove against the Boston Red Sox, not just to the baseball world and Yankee fans, but to themselves.
The Yankees need to prove that they have no intention of being Boston’s whipping boys for the rest of the year. And it starts tonight with CC Sabathia, who has to show that he is the same ace against the Red Sox that he is against every other team in the American League. Weeks ago, Sabathia seemed like a sure-fire contender for a Cy Young award this year, but he has stumbled badly of late. A strong start against the Red Sox tonight would get things going in the right direction again.
I will also be looking for a good showing from Phil Hughes, who was pitching beautifully until the disaster against Oakland last week. Hughes needs a solid start to ensure he is not the odd man out of the Yankees rotation when Joe Girardi trims the six-man crew to five after Thursday. AJ Burnett should be the one banished due to the bullpen for being consistently bad, but I think Hughes needs to step up and make sure not to give Girardi and Brian Cashman a reason to send him to the ‘pen.
The first two games of the series are critical because I’m already conceding Burnett’s start on Thursday (I’ll be in a bar with my Syracuse friends that night watching the first Orange football game of the year). Burnett’s unreliability puts a lot of pressure on Sabathia, Hughes and the rest of the Yankees to win the first two games and avoid being known as Boston’s punching bag for the rest of the year.
Will the Yankees step up against the Red Sox? We’ll find out soon enough.
Would you be please kind enough to make my day?
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