Friday night viewing has never been this good as Major League Baseball has served up a pair of blockbuster games that will definitely be worth all your attention. Kicking things off tonight is the mouth-watering clash between AL East rivals Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees.
Following shortly thereafter is the pivotal National League showdown between the San Diego Padres and the Los Angeles Dodgers. Read on below for a quick breakdown of these two critical games and while you’re at it, you can check out our previews of Mariners vs. Angels and Cubs vs. D-Backs.
The Boston Red Sox will head to Yankee Stadium with momentum on their side after thrashing the Tampa Bay Rays, 8-2, on Wednesday. The Red Sox have now won each of their last eight outings as they opened up a 4.5 game lead in the AL East standings. Offense has been the catalyst for Boston’s strong second half run, scoring a whopping 50 runs during their eight-game winning streak. They will look to keep on raking against Yankees starter Jaime Garcia who’s 5-8 for the year with a 4.49 ERA.
Garcia struggled in his first start for the Bronx Bombers, allowing six runs (five earned) in a 7-2 loss to the Cleveland Indians. He’ll be looking for a much better performance against the Red Sox who will have Eduardo Rodriguez (4-3, 4.08 ERA) as their starter tonight. He turned in his best performance since returning from a right knee injury last Friday, throwing six innings of two-run, four-hit ball against the Chicago White Sox. The southpaw has gone 3-0 with a 2.63 ERA in his last five starts against the Yankees.
Writer’s Prediction: Garcia outduels Rodriguez to lead the Yankees (-118) to a critical home win against the Red Sox.
San Diego Padres vs. Los Angeles Dodgers (10:10 PM ET)
What in the world is happening to San Diego? The Padres lost for the fourth time in their last five games on Wednesday, a 10-3 defeat at the hands of the Cincinnati Reds. The Padres couldn’t protect another late lead as they allowed a whopping eight runs in the seventh and eighth innings. With the Padres struggling mightily right now, the pressure is on Clayton Richard (5-12, 5.17 ERA) to deliver a quality start for San Diego tonight. He allowed four runs (none earned) on five hits and one walk across six innings in a no-decision Sunday against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Things are bound to get tougher, though, for Richard as standing in his way tonight are the red-hot Dodgers. LA, who owns the league’s best record, will start Rich Hill (8-4, 3.47 ERA) this evening. He surrendered three runs on six hits and one walk while striking out eight across five innings in a no-decision against the New York Mets on Saturday. Hill has been a sure thing for the Dodgers lately as they have won each of their last six games with the lefty as their starter.
Writer’s Prediction: Hill leads the Dodgers (-345) to yet another win.
