Friday night's series opener features 11-5 Clay Buchholz against Javier Vazquez, who struggled through the first half of the season and now sits at 9-7 with a 4.61 ERA. The young right-hander for the Sox has the second-best ERA in the AL at 2.59 but has struggled mightily in his four career starts against the Yankees, posting a 0-2 record to go with a 6.53 ERA. Vazquez, meanwhile, has just three wins in 10 career starts against Boston, but went 3-0 in five July starts for the Yanks.
Saturday's afternoon affair pits newcomer John Lackey, known to be a bulldog in the second half of the season, against Cy Young contender CC Sabathia.
Sabathia is 13-5 with a 3.19 ERA but is 5-5 with a 3.56 ERA in 14 career starts against the Sox. Lackey, meanwhile, has just one win since late-June and is 5-7 with a 4.40 ERA in 17 career starts against New York. He has yet to pitch at the new Yankee Stadium, but held the Yanks to three hits over six scoreless innings in his season debut against their AL East foes at Fenway.
Former Marlin teammates Josh Beckett and A.J. Burnett — who spent five seasons together in South Florida — will take the rubber in Sunday night's nationally televised game. Burnett, even more than Vazquez, has been a huge disappointment this summer, sporting a 9-9 record to go with a 4.93 ERA. Although he picked up three victories in July, he was smacked around in his last start when the Blue Jays put up eight runs on eight hits over 4 2/3 innings.
Beckett, on the other hand, has struggled in his own right — with his health. The righty missed two months before returning to the bump on July 23. He's seeking his fourth win of the season and third in a row when he toes the Yankee Stadium rubber for the second time this season.
Which matchup do find most intriguing this weekend? Text "SOX1" to 542542 for the Buchholz-Vazquez matchup. For the Lackey-Sabathia game, text "SOX2" to
542542. For Beckett-Burnett, text 'SOX3' to 542542.
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