Yankees 0-8 (ugh!) vs. Boston this year, but still lead them by 2 and a half games in the division.
Good preview in the NYT this morning. The last Yankee pitcher to beat the Red Sox is Mike Mussina, and he's retired! -
From 2002 through 2008, the Yankees and the Red Sox played 145 times, including the playoffs. The Yankees won 75, the Red Sox won 70. No team won a season series by more than three games.
Now this, a run of futility the Yankees have not matched in almost a century. The last time the Yankees lost their first eight games of a season to the Red Sox was 1912.
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On Thursday, their hottest starter, Joba Chamberlain, will face John Smoltz, who has a 7.12 earned run average. A. J. Burnett faces Josh Beckett Friday, followed by C. C. Sabathia against Clay Buchholz Saturday and Andy Pettitte versus Jon Lester Sunday.
Since 2005, no pitchers in baseball have won as often in August as Burnett, Sabathia and Pettitte. Sabathia and Pettitte have 16 victories apiece in August since 2005, and Burnett has 14.
The Yankees’ bullpen also looks better-equipped for this series than the earlier ones. In the eight losses, the Yankees used five relievers who are no longer with the team: Jonathan Albaladejo, Damaso Marte, Edwar Ramirez, Brett Tomko and Jose Veras. Those pitchers went 0-2 and allowed 11 earned runs in 11 innings.
“I think our bullpen is much stronger than it was early on,” said Girardi, who now uses Phil Hughes as his primary setup man. Hughes was in middle relief when the teams last met, and he started in the series before that.
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