The Red Sox snapped their three-game losing streak Saturday night with a 6-1 win over the Yankees, and they’ll look to build on that victory as they send Ryan Dempster to the mound Sunday night in the rubber match.
After a pair of inconsistent starts in the month of August, Dempster had one of his best outings of the season in his last start against the Blue Jays. The right-hander allowed only one run on four hits in seven strong innings of work. The veteran will look to extend his success as he will square off against CC Sabathia who has also had an up-and-down year. The normally dominating Sabathia has posted a 5.55 ERA and allowed 15 home runs dating back to the beginning of July.
Mike Napoli was a late scratch in Saturday’s game, and the first baseman will sit again as he deals with plantar fasciitis. Daniel Nava will take over the duties at first, and Jonny Gomes will return to the lineup in left field and bat fifth.
After scaring all of Red Sox Nation in the eighth inning of Saturday night’s game, Dustin Pedroia returns to action. The second baseman fouled off a pitch just above his left foot and immediately went down. Pedroia finished the at-bat, but was taken out in the ninth inning as a precautionary move, and John Farrell announced after the game that the injury was not serious.
Pedroia’s bat will be key in the lineup as he has had success against Sabathia in the past, hitting .304 against the left-hander in 51 plate appearances.
Check out the rest of Sunday’s lineups below.
Red Sox (73-52)
Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
Shane Victornio, RF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
David Ortiz, DH
Jonny Gomes, LF
Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C
Daniel Nava, 1B
Stephen Drew, SS
Will Middlebrooks, 3B
Ryan Dempster, RHP
Yankees (63-50)
Brett Gardner, CF
Ichiro Suzuki, RF
Robinson Cano, 2B
Alfonso Soriano, LF
Alex Rodriguez, 3B
Curtis Granderson, DH
Eduardo Nunez, SS
Lyle Overbay, 1B
Chris Stewart, C
CC Sabathia, LHP
