Suddenly, the game's most intimidating lineup doesn't look so scary.
When Friday's lineups were released, the Yankees' solid, top-to-bottom offense certainly spelled trouble for pitcher Brad Penny and the odds of a Red Sox win, but one glance at Terry Francona's setup instantly shot a boost of confidence into the Nation.
Tito is sticking with the same lineup as Thursday night's 8-1 pummeling victory over the Blue Jays. While Toronto's punch comes off more as a jab compared to New York's uppercut, Boston's nine stacks up nicely — and perhaps even higher and mightier — against Joe Girardi's group:
| Yankees |
Red Sox |
| Derek Jeter, SS | Jacoby Ellsbury, CF |
| Johnny Damon, LF | Dustin Pedroia, 2B |
| Mark Teixeira, 1B | Victor Martinez, C |
| Alex Rodriguez, 3B | Kevin Youkilis, 1B |
| Hideki Matsui, DH | Jason Bay, LF |
| Jorge Posada, C | David Ortiz, DH |
| Robinson Cano, 2B | Mike Lowell, 3B |
| Nick Swisher, RF | J.D. Drew, RF |
| Melky Cabrera, CF | Alex Gonzalez, SS |
This very same lineup on Thursday night put up 10 hits and eight runs. In their two previous games, Boston was able to notch a combined 22 hits and 16 runs without the assistance of the reigning AL MVP in Dustin Pedroia. Compare this to the Yankees, who in their last three games put up just 10 combined runs on 25 hits against the last-place Oakland A's.
