That Red Sox-Yankees game, originally scheduled for June 6th and punted to August, is suddenly looking like a real headache for New York. Back in June, Boston had a 27-35 record after winning the opener of that weekend series, while the Yankees were sitting pretty at 37-26. Aaron Judge was on the IL, and with a chance of rain, they figured, why not push it to August? Surely Judge would be back, and the Red Sox would be easier to kick around with their captain in the lineup, right? Fast forward two and a half months, and Judge still hasn’t returned. The Yankees aren’t exactly lighting up the scoreboard anymore, even with their good pitching, and that makeup game against Boston? It’s not looking like an easy win at all. They’re probably wishing they’d just played it back in June!
The August Angle: Judge Still Out, Pitching Matchups Loom
No, the Red Sox aren’t guaranteed to sweep or anything crazy, but which version of this Boston squad would you rather face: early June or late August? This ain’t the same Yankees team without Judge and Stanton, that’s for sure. On the mound, the Sox are rolling with Patrick Sandoval for the opener. He just bounced back from a rough outing against the Pirates, holding the Giants to just 2 runs over 5.2 innings, both solo shots. He racked up 6 strikeouts and gave up 5 of the Giants’ 8 hits. Sandoval is the number five starter, mostly there to eat innings and keep the Sox in the game for about 5.0 frames. He probably won’t be seeing much action, if any, in potential postseason games.
The Yankees, though? They’re sending their ace to face Boston’s back-end guy. Opting to have Schlittler skip the Astros and face the Red Sox definitely screams “nervous” about that first Wild Card spot and a potential home series. The last time Schlittler faced Boston, they roughed him up a bit, hitting him for 4 runs in 5.0 innings, even scaled to a Cy Young favorite’s outing. He’s had some tough spots this season, giving up 5 runs once, and having a 4-run, 3.0 inning outing against the Cardinals on August 3rd. He’s been good, no question, but he’s already at 158 innings this season, compared to 149 across the majors and minors last year. Are we seeing him run out of gas?
Day-Night Doubleheader Woes
Speaking of potentially running out of gas, Jake Bennett gets the ball for the afternoon game in this day-night doubleheader. He got off to a bad start against San Francisco recently but settled down pretty quick with a few single-digit pitch innings. Bennett faced the Yankees during the “Big Sweep Weekend” in June, going 6.1 innings, giving up just 1 run, and striking out 3. He’s fallen off a little since the end of July, but after shaking off the rust from a long time between starts, he looked like the Bennett who was cruising earlier this year. The Yankees don’t even have a starter listed for the afternoon game, and neither team has anyone announced for the evening. Could Brayan Bello, who’s well rested, get the nod for the nightcap? It’s gonna be a wild day, with both teams looking to make a statement in this rescheduled showdown.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Over the Monster.
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