CC Sabathia Returns From The Disabled List As New York Looks To Bounce Back As They Take On Boston
37 year- old New York veteran left-hander CC Sabathia will return to the mound Saturday night at Fenway Park as he takes on Boston after his stint on the disabled list with right knee pain as New York will look to bounce back from their series opener loss Friday at Fenway Park.
True to form, Chris Sale has dominated the Yankees each of the three times that he has faced them this season, yet those efforts have yet to be rewarded with a victory. He will try again on Saturday at Fenway Park as the Red Sox host their closest American League East challengers in the second game of a three-game series. "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/249325866/red-sox-win-after-trading-comebacks-with-yanks/
The AL Cy Young Award favorite will square off against CC Sabathia, having held New York to four runs (three earned) in 22 2/3 innings (1.19 ERA), striking out 35. Still, if Rafael Devers hadn't hit a late homer off Aroldis Chapman last weekend in the Bronx, Boston could have fallen to 0-3 in Sale's starts against the Yanks, who trail the Red Sox by five games in the AL East. "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/249325866/red-sox-win-after-trading-comebacks-with-yanks/
"I think we expect games to be very similar [to what] we had in New York," Red Sox manager John Farrell said. "They're going to be hard-fought, they're going to be well-played. They've done a very good job of keeping us at bay with men in scoring position. To me, that's kind of the overriding thing throughout the first 12 games we've played." "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/249325866/red-sox-win-after-trading-comebacks-with-yanks/
Sale struck out 12 and allowed one run over seven innings in that Sunday effort, permitting just four hits and two walks, and the left-hander is on pace to shatter Pedro Martinez's single-season club record of 313 strikeouts, set in 1999. Sale has 241 whiffs going into Saturday's start. "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/249325866/red-sox-win-after-trading-comebacks-with-yanks/
"I'm actually a little bit shocked because I've never seen something like it," Martinez said. "I know that you guys said you saw it in me but I never saw what I was doing, really. I never stopped to look at what was going on. Now that I'm seeing Chris Sale, I can now understand why the Boston fans got so excited every time I went out." "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/249325866/red-sox-win-after-trading-comebacks-with-yanks/
Sabathia has excelled against the Red Sox this season, winning both of his starts while hurling 14 scoreless innings. He is scheduled to be activated from the disabled list, having been limited to just three innings in his last outing on Aug. 8 at Toronto due to an arthritic right knee that will eventually require surgery. The pain was so intense, a crestfallen Sabathia later acknowledged that he considered the possibility that his season -- and perhaps even his career -- might be over. "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/249325866/red-sox-win-after-trading-comebacks-with-yanks/
"Because it hurt. It's just not worth it," Sabathia said. "I go out there and I could throw four innings and hurt. I've pitched for a long time now, so I'm not doing this for money or anything like that. I'm doing this for fun and to try to win a championship. If I can't have fun and help this team win, then there's no need for me to be out there." "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/249325866/red-sox-win-after-trading-comebacks-with-yanks/
An MRI taken in New York revealed no significant damage to the knee, and Sabathia's discomfort was quelled in part by injections of cortisone, platelet-rich plasma and stem cells. Sabathia said that he is excited to get back on the mound and that he shouldn't be affected by facing a pitcher of Sale's caliber. "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/249325866/red-sox-win-after-trading-comebacks-with-yanks/
"I've been pitching a long time," Sabathia said. "I've faced Pedro and [other] Hall of Famers, so I had to learn that lesson, that you're not really going up against that guy. You're going up against their lineup. You just kind of go out and stay the course." "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/249325866/red-sox-win-after-trading-comebacks-with-yanks/
Chase Headley is one of the few Yankees who has hit Sale well in his career. Headley is 7-for-23 (.304) with a double, two homers and two RBIs against Sale, who has also allowed seven hits in 19 at-bats (.368) to Aaron Hicks. "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/249325866/red-sox-win-after-trading-comebacks-with-yanks/
Sabathia has faced Jackie Bradley Jr. (5-for-26, .192) and Xander Bogaerts (4-for-24, .167) more than any other active Red Sox players, and both have struggled. Mookie Betts (6-for-17, .353) has been a tough matchup for the veteran. "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/249325866/red-sox-win-after-trading-comebacks-with-yanks/
Former Yankee Eduardo Nunez is hitting .361 (30-for-83) with 10 extra-base hits and 13 RBIs in 18 games with the Red Sox since being acquired from the Giants. "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/249325866/red-sox-win-after-trading-comebacks-with-yanks/
As for their last game, New York lost the opener Friday 9-6 at Fenway Park.
This will be the second-straight weekend the two American League East rivals have played one another with the home team taking the opener.
The rivalry has been back to its riveting best the last two weekends, and no lead ever feels safe. "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/249325866/red-sox-win-after-trading-comebacks-with-yanks/
The Yankees and Red Sox traded impressive comebacks in Friday night's series opener, but Boston prevailed with a 9-6 victory that had Fenway Park rocking in the late innings -- and with good reason. "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/249325866/red-sox-win-after-trading-comebacks-with-yanks/
With the win, the Red Sox opened up a five-game lead over the Yankees in the American League East. This, on the strength of a surge in which manager John Farrell's team has ripped off 13 wins in the last 15 games. "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/249325866/red-sox-win-after-trading-comebacks-with-yanks/
"It's just the tenacity of the group as a whole," said Farrell. "Once we turned into the month of August, the offense has turned it on. It's not anyone guy. There's contributions up and down the lineup." "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/249325866/red-sox-win-after-trading-comebacks-with-yanks/
Last weekend, the Yankees won the opener by roaring back from a 3-0 deficit in the eighth. The Red Sox took the rubber match with a thrilling comeback to take two out of three in the series. "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/249325866/red-sox-win-after-trading-comebacks-with-yanks/
To return the favor, the Yankees will have to win the next two days. "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/249325866/red-sox-win-after-trading-comebacks-with-yanks/
"It's a tough loss," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "Our guys fought really hard to get back in front with the lead and had really good at-bats from a lot of people. It's frustrating, but we'll be back." "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/249325866/red-sox-win-after-trading-comebacks-with-yanks/
Rafael Devers and Christian Vazquez served as catalysts for the Red Sox in this one. Devers smashed a two-run homer against Jordan Montgomery in the second. Vazquez went 3-for-3 with a homer and reached base four times. "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/249325866/red-sox-win-after-trading-comebacks-with-yanks/
"Yeah, it's a big win," said Vazquez. "Every win is big for us. We're trying to expand that lead for first place. We know we're playing good ball here, we're playing well." "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/249325866/red-sox-win-after-trading-comebacks-with-yanks/
The Yankees caught a break when Red Sox starter Drew Pomeranz had to leave his scoreless outing in the top of the fourth inning with back spasms. That created a long night for Boston's bullpen, and New York capitalized with six runs to take a 6-3 lead into the bottom of the seventh. "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/249325866/red-sox-win-after-trading-comebacks-with-yanks/
With two outs in the seventh, Andrew Benintendi made Moreland's go-ahead hit possible when he laced an RBI single against Kahnle to bring Boston within one. It was the continuation of a monster August for Benintendi, which has coincided with the Red Sox getting equally hot as a team. Benintendi's big hit came on a 1-1 changeup. For the month, the left fielder is hitting .392 with 14 runs, three doubles, five homers and 14 RBIs. "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/249325866/red-sox-win-after-trading-comebacks-with-yanks/
On a night when the Yankees went 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position and left 14 men on base, a pair of Aaron Judge at-bats loomed large. Judge grounded out to leave the bases loaded after a terrific battle with Joe Kelly in the sixth inning, then got another chance in the seventh after Torreyes' two-run single, a walk and a hit-by-pitch filled the bags again. Addison Reed struck out Judge swinging, marking the 35th consecutive game in which Judge has fanned, and Sanchez lined out softly as New York settled for a four-run frame. It was a big moment for Reed, who squandered a three-run lead in his first rivalry appearance a week ago. "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/249325866/red-sox-win-after-trading-comebacks-with-yanks/
"It was a big opportunity and A.R. handled it with poise facing a very talented hitter," said Red Sox center fielder Jackie Bradley Jr. "That was big. That was a big momentum shift for us." "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/249325866/red-sox-win-after-trading-comebacks-with-yanks/
"I'd rather have it turn out in a different way," Judge said. "I worked the count, fouled off some tough pitches and they just got the best of me that time." "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/249325866/red-sox-win-after-trading-comebacks-with-yanks/
"We have a lot of faith in one another. We feel like if one person doesn't get the job done, we feel like the next person will. And when you have that faith in each other, you put together some great things." -- Bradley, on Boston's surge "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/249325866/red-sox-win-after-trading-comebacks-with-yanks/
Devers joined Hall of Famers Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, and Ken Griffey Jr. as the only hitters since at least 1913 to homer in consecutive games against the Yankees before the age of 21. "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/249325866/red-sox-win-after-trading-comebacks-with-yanks/
It turned out the Red Sox had the right guy at the plate in Moreland for what proved to be Friday night's key at-bat. Since the start of the 2014 season, Moreland leads the Majors with a .459 batting average (minimum 40 plate appearances) as a pinch-hitter. "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/249325866/red-sox-win-after-trading-comebacks-with-yanks/
In the top of the fourth, Didi Gregorius stung a liner to left, but Benintendi got a terrific jump and made a sprawling catch to take a hit away. Statcast™ rated it as a five-star catch, the first of Benintendi's career. Benintendi had a Catch Probability of 14 percent and the Hit Probabilityfor Gregorius was 71 percent. Benintendi needed to cover 41 feet of distance with an opportunity time of three seconds. "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/249325866/red-sox-win-after-trading-comebacks-with-yanks/
Veteran New York left-hander CC Sabathia will return from a stint on the 10-Day disabled list with a knee injury. Sabathia is expected to come off the disabled to start Saturday's contest at Fenway. He last started on Aug. 8 at Toronto and was limited to three innings by right knee pain. Sabathia had a series of injections in the knee in order to recover. He will take on Boston -left-hander Chris Sale who has a record of 14-4 with a 2.51 earn run average. Despite being dominate 1.19 earn run average in all three of his starts against the Yankees in 2017, Sale is looking for his first rivalry win. Sale has held the Bombers to a 1.88 earn run average in three starts. He is 4-2 with a 1.18 earn run average lifetime against New York. "according to https://www.mlb.com/gameday/yankees-vs-red-sox/2017/08/19/491936#game_state=preview,game_tab=,game=491936
Will CC Sabathia pitch well in his first outing since coming off the disabled list and give New York a chance to win? Wil the Boston offense be able to get their offense going against the veteran left-hander? Will the New York offense be able to get their offense going against Chris Sale? Will New York be able to hold on to the lead if they get it?
First pitch is set for 7:10 pm. The game will be televised on Major League Baseball Network and Yes.