Josh Beckett has been great this season. Against the Yankees, he's been lights out.
Beckett enters Sunday night's series finale with a perfect 3-0 record in three starts against the Yankees this season. His ERA against the Bronx Bombers sits at an astonishing 0.86, while his WHIP checks in at a minuscule 0.714.
Beckett has allowed only two runs on 10 hits with 25 strikeouts in 21 innings against the AL East rivals in 2011. In his last start against the Yanks, Beckett allowed two runs on four hits in seven innings en route to an 8-3 Red Sox win on June 9 at Yankee Stadium.
Overall, Beckett has won his last four starts against the Yankees dating back to last season.
Going up against the Red Sox ace will be veteran Freddy Garcia, who is in the midst of a surprisingly solid season. The 34-year-old had experienced some struggles prior to this season, but he's 10-7 with a very respectable 3.22 ERA in 2011.
In his career, Garcia is 8-4 with a 4.82 ERA in 19 career games (18 starts) against the Red Sox. He's 0-2 with a 10.13 ERA in three 2011 appearances (two starts). The right-hander was touched up for four runs in 1 1/3 innings in New York on June 7.
Josh Reddick will return to the starting lineup on Sunday, batting seventh and manning right field. He has seven hits in his last 16 at-bats. He enters Sunday only 2-for-19 (.105 average) against the Yankees in his career, although he's 2-for-4 against them this season after going 0-for-15 in 2009 and 2010.
Jason Varitek will get the start behind the dish and bat eighth with Beckett on the mound.
Eduardo Nunez will return to the Yankees lineup as the third baseman and No. 9 hitter after a day off on Saturday.
Here's a look at the rest of Sunday's lineups.
Red Sox
Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Kevin Youkilis, 3B
David Ortiz, DH
Carl Crawford, LF
Josh Reddick, RF
Jason Varitek, C
Marco Scutaro, SS
Yankees
Brett Gardner, LF
Derek Jeter, SS
Curtis Granderson, CF
Mark Teixeira, 1B
Robinson Cano, 2B
Nick Swisher, RF
Eric Chavez, DH
Russell Martin, C
Eduardo Nunez, 3B
