The first two contests of the Boston Red Sox’s three-game set with the New York Yankees certainly haven’t lacked in entertainment, and that trend likely will continue as they’ll close things out Thursday with a rubber match at Fenway Park.
The Red Sox used a 14-1 drubbing to claim the first game, but New York prevailed with a 10-7 victory in game No. 2. Of course, the final score hardly was the storyline in the latter, as Wednesday’s contest featured two separate instances of cleared benches, with the second occasion escalating into an all-out melee.
Now, we’ll see if cooler heads will prevail in the final game between the two bitter rivals until they meet again in May. The Red Sox will send out Rick Porcello to handle the pitching, while Sonny Gray will take the hill for the Yankees. After a night off Wednesday, Andrew Benintendi will be back in the lineup for Boston.
Tyler Austin, who charged at Joe Kelly after getting beaned in Wednesday’s game, is not in the lineup for the Yankees.
Here are the full lineups for Thursday’s Red Sox-Yankees game:
RED SOX (9-2)
Mookie Betts, RF
Andrew Benintendi, LF
Hanley Ramirez, 1B
J.D. Martinez, DH
Rafael Devers, 3B
Eduardo Nunez, 2B
Jackie Bradley Jr., CF
Sandy Leon, C
Brock Holt, SS
Rick Porcello, RHP (2-0, 2.84 ERA)
YANKEES (6-6)
Brett Gardner, CF
Aaron Judge, RF
Giancarlo Stanton, LF
Didi Gregorius, SS
Gary Sanchez, C
Aaron Hicks, DH
Neil Walker, 1B
Tyler Wade, 2B
Ronald Torreyes, 3B
Sonny Gray, RHP (1-0, 3.60 ERA)
