Yankees vs. Red Sox-Yanks looking to avoid the sweep

The New York Yankees have lost the first two games of this three game series against the Boston Red Sox.  The Yankees also have Russell Martin out with a back issue and then today learned that reliever Joba Chamberlain has a torn ligament in his right elbow and will almost certainly need Tommy John surgery meaning his season is over.  The Yankees were already without what was supposed to be their eighth inning guy Rafael Soriano, Pedro Feliciano never got his season started and the Yankees are left with Mariano Rivera, Dave Robertson and Boone Logan.  They need some pitching help and unless they turn to the young guys in the minors I don't know that they are going to get it.  Mark Prior would of been an option but he is also on the DL.  Phil Hughes is currently making his way back, could the Yankees shift him back to the pen, I guess it is a possibility but who knows if they would do that again. 

It has been a really tough couple of days for the Yankees as they lost first place last night and they also lose some of their players now.  I don't know if the Yankees will do it but I would look for some pay back tonight with C.C. on the mound.  The Red Sox have become way too comfortable at Yankee Stadium and something has to be done about it.  I am not advocating throwing at anyone but throw inside and make them eat some dirt and if they get hit oh well.  The Yankees are going to need seven or eight inning out of C.C. tonight and hopefully they can scratch out some runs off of Beckett. 

Here is the Yankees lineup for tonight:  Derek Jeter, Curtis Granderson, Mark Teixeira, Alex Rodriguez, Robinson Cano, Nick Swisher, Jorge Posada, Brett Gardner, Francisco Cervelli. 

The Red Sox also may be getting some bad news today as second baseman Dustin Pedroia was sent back to Boston for tests on his knee.  He is out for today but they hope that is it, he indicated it is possible he may need knee surgery, if that is the case that would be a huge blow for them. 

The Yankees are 1-7 against the Red Sox this season, not very good but a few yrs ago they were 0-8 against them and ended up splitting the season series.  The Red Sox right now are the better team but they aren't that much better.  I see it as a confidence thing, the Sox know they will beat the Yankees and the Yankees aren't sure they can beat them. 

There is one other thing this year that suprises me so far, the Yankees are only a couple of games over 500 at home.  They need to get that great home field advantage going again.  They always had it at the Old Stadium and in the two years since this stadium opened they have had it but not this year.  That is going to need to change if the Yankees are going to go anywhere this year. 

The game is on MY9, YES has pre and postgame.  I wouldn't expect the game to start on time as thunderstorms are rolling through the area but we will see.  I would expect a delay of an hour or more which on getaway day for the Red Sox and with how long they play will be really fun.