The Yankees and Red Sox are back in action, this time with Jon Lester facing AJ Burnett. The current Red Sox lineup has had considerable success against Burnett, fueled in large part by AJ’s 8.85 ERA against Boston last season. Meanwhile, the Yankees will have to lean on the Captain and Arod because the rest of the lineup has struggled against the Red Sox lefty. The pitching matchup seems to favor Boston, but this rivalry always manages to surprise.
| vs. Jon Lester | PA | BA | OBP | SLG | HR | RBI |
| Derek Jeter SS | 26 | 0.375 | 0.423 | 0.375 | 0 | 2 |
| Nick Johnson DH | 3 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0 | 0 |
| Mark Teixeira 1B | 14 | 0.286 | 0.286 | 0.500 | 1 | 1 |
| Alex Rodriguez 3B | 17 | 0.250 | 0.294 | 0.688 | 2 | 4 |
| Robinson Cano 2B | 22 | 0.227 | 0.227 | 0.318 | 0 | 1 |
| Jorge Posada C | 14 | 0.231 | 0.286 | 0.231 | 0 | 0 |
| Nick Swisher RF | 20 | 0.133 | 0.300 | 0.400 | 1 | 2 |
| Marcus Thames LF | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0 | 0 |
| Curtis GrandersonCF | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 116 | 0.252 | 0.302 | 0.402 | 4 | 10 |
| vs. A.J. Burnett | PA | BA | OBP | SLG | HR | RBI |
| Jacoby Ellsbury LF | 25 | 0.261 | 0.292 | 0.391 | 1 | 1 |
| Dustin Pedroia 2B | 34 | 0.28 | 0.471 | 0.520 | 2 | 4 |
| Victor Martinez C | 23 | 0.235 | 0.435 | 0.294 | 0 | 0 |
| Kevin Youkilis 1B | 32 | 0.259 | 0.375 | 0.370 | 1 | 5 |
| David Ortiz DH | 34 | 0.273 | 0.294 | 0.667 | 3 | 8 |
| Adrian Beltre 3B | 28 | 0.231 | 0.286 | 0.500 | 1 | 5 |
| JD Drew RF | 31 | 0.269 | 0.387 | 0.385 | 0 | 4 |
| Mike Cameron CF | 13 | 0.364 | 0.385 | 0.909 | 1 | 4 |
| Marco Scutaro 2B | 21 | 0.316 | 0.381 | 0.368 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 241 | 0.271 | 0.357 | 0.478 | 9 | 31 |
Key Storylines
- Curtis Granderson will be facing Jon Lester for the first time in his career (Lester has only started one career game against the Tigers). This will be a big test for Granderson, who has historically struggled against lefties.
- Jorge Posada will be catching AJ Burnett as the duo hopes to start the 2010 season on the right foot.
- After working on the pitch all spring, AJ Burnett unveils his newly developed changeup. It will be interesting to see when and how often he throws it.
- Marcus Thames gets his first start of the year. His main role on the team is to hit lefty pitching, so a good performance could help cement his standing on the team.
Leave a Reply