Six hits in his last four games — including home runs in his last two — make Dustin Pedroia the Red Sox' hottest hitter heading into Saturday's matchup with the Yankees. Pedroia may run into some trouble against Yankees starter CC Sabathia however, as he is hitting just .229 (8-for-35) with 13 strikeouts against the big lefty in his career.
The top hitter in Friday night's game — a 10-3 Yankee win — was undoubtedly Bombers center fielder Curtis Granderson, who went 3-for-5 with a double and a grand slam. Granderson enters Saturday hitting just .253 on the season, but his power numbers are formidable, with 28 home runs and a .520 slugging percentage. Mark Teixeira is also among the Yankees' hottest hitters, and though he was just 1-for-3 in the series opener, he made productive outs, driving in runs with a groundout in the first inning and a sacrifice fly in the third.
Robinson Cano is also putting together another fine season in pinstripes, with his traditional second-half surge in full effect. Since June 5, Cano is hitting .362 with 14 home runs a 1.072 OPS in 46 games. He went 2-for-5 at the plate on Friday.
Carl Crawford, the coldest Red Sox regular, will not start Saturday's game. The Red Sox have lost six of seven to New York this season and have allowed 59 runs in those games.
Here are the Red Sox and Yankees temperatures for July 28.
Red Sox
Dustin Pedroia 88
Will Middlebrooks 74
Nick Punto 72
Pedro Ciriaco 71
Jacoby Ellsbury 70
Adrian Gonzalez 68
Ryan Sweeney 67
Jarrod Saltalamacchia 64
Kelly Shoppach 63
Cody Ross 61
Daniel Nava 60
Mike Aviles 54
Carl Crawford 51
Yankees
Curtis Granderson 82
Robinson Cano 77
Mark Teixeira 76
Derek Jeter 75
Russell Martin 73
Ichiro Suzuki 71
Jayson Nix 68
Chris Stewart 68
Nick Swisher 65
Raul Ibanez 62
Eric Chavez 61
Andruw Jones 48
