The Boston Red Sox will have some added assistance when taking on the New York Yankees to open up their latest three-game road series on Friday night.
Adam Duvall was reinstated from the 60-day injured list, slated to bat fifth and play centerfield in manager Alex Cora’s starting lineup. It’ll be Duvall’s first time on the field for Boston since April 9 when he suffered the initial wrist injury that sidelined him for a nearly multi-month period, against the Detroit Tigers.
While Duvall’s addition comes as a significant positive to Boston’s recent cold streak, which has resulted in four losses in the last five Red Sox contests, there was a handful of roster moves made before the team took the field at Yankee Stadium — most notably the placement of starting pitcher Chris Sale to the 60-day injured list.
During Duvall’s brief debut run in a Red Sox uniform, the 34-year-old was arguably the best hitter in Major League Baseball, torching whatever any given pitcher had to offer at the plate. With a sample size of eight games into the campaign, Duvall compiled a slash line of .455/.514/1.030 with four home runs and 14 RBIs.
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It’ll be the first time that Boston and New York have met this season, but the Red Sox aren’t the only ones working around some health-hampered roster adjustments. The Yankees, who held a 5.5-game lead over the Red Sox in the American League East, recently placed last season’s MVP Aaron Judge on the 15-day injured list, eliminating any possibility of the slugger facing Boston in the series.
The Red Sox and Yankees will play Game 1 at 7:10 p.m. ET. from Yankee Stadium, and you can watch the full, plus an hour of pregame coverage, live on NESN.
Featured image via Rick Osentoski/USA TODAY Sports Images
