MLB Game Preview - NY Yankees at Boston

Thu Jul 25, 2019 7:10 PM EDT

The Red Sox and Yankees have matched up seven times this season, playing five games in New York and making history with a pair of contests in London.

Now the season series finally makes its way to Boston for the first time as the bitter rivals kick off a four-game set at Fenway Park on Thursday.

The July 25 meeting marks the latest the teams have faced off in Boston for the first time in a season since the strike-shortened 1981 campaign, when it took until mid-September. Unlike that year, when the clubs split their six contests, this season's series has been decidedly one-sided, with New York having won six of the first seven games.

"We know what's coming over the weekend," Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. "It should be fun. It's going to be long. Hopefully no rain delays or whatever. Finally we see them at home. It's kind of weird."

The Red Sox will send right-hander Rick Porcello (8-7, 5.61 ERA) to the mound for the opener while the Yankees counter with righty Masahiro Tanaka (7-5, 4.00).

The two pitchers matched up on June 29 in the first of the London games, each failing to make it out of the first inning. Porcello retired just one batter, giving up six runs on five hits in the top of the frame before Tanaka was tagged for six runs on four hits in two-thirds of an inning in the bottom half.

The end result of the contest was a 17-13 Yankees win, the start of a two-game span that saw the teams pile on a combined 50 runs.

Both Tanaka and Porcello have gone undefeated since that matchup, though the peripheral numbers aren't pretty. Porcello is 3-0 with an 8.64 ERA in three July starts, last beating the Baltimore Orioles despite allowing six runs on 11 hits in five innings, while Tanaka is 2-0 with a 5.40 ERA.

Tanaka got the victory against the Colorado Rockies his last time out, giving up five runs on seven hits in six innings.

Outings like that have done little to slow down the Yankees, who are 9-4 since the All-Star break and are up 10 games on the second-place Tampa Bay Rays in the American League East standings. The Red Sox are in third, 11 games back, having gone 7-6 since the break.

New York enters the series coming off a pair of big wins against the Minnesota Twins, including a 14-12 triumph in 10 innings Tuesday. The Yankees followed that up with a 10-7 victory in the series finale Wednesday night, though they did so without catcher Gary Sanchez, whom they placed on the injured list with a left groin ailment.

"It's a Grade 1 strain, so in the scale of strains, I guess it's minor," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. "It's somewhat good news, but it's still going to need some time. We'll have to see how these next few days and next week unfold and how he's healing."

The Red Sox, meanwhile, missed their chance at a road sweep of the Rays with a 3-2 defeat Wednesday afternoon, though they protested the result after several late substitutions by Tampa Bay led to confusion among the umpires.

"They had a pitcher at first base. They had a pitcher on the mound. And they still had the DH," Cora said. "Hard to explain. ... There's a lot. Illegal substitutions. But we'll see what happens."

After playing four in Boston this weekend, the Yankees and Red Sox will meet again for another four-game set in New York starting Aug. 2.

--Field Level Media