Vidal Nuno (1-4, 5.88 ERA) gets the honors of kicking off the series with the rival Red Sox taking on Brandon Workman (1-0, 2.88 ERA). Nuno hasn’t won since May 7th, is on a two game losing streak. His last outing against Baltimore he went 6 1/3 innings allowing four earned runs on six hits, with two walks and four strikeouts.
Workman is making his first start since a six game suspension for throwing behind Evan Longoria. He gave up two earned runs in six innings for his second consecutive quality start after allowing just one hit to the Orioles in 6 2/3 scoreless innings on June 10th. “He’s growing. He feels more comfortable throwing his curveball, and he throws it in bigger situations,” A.J. Pierzynski said. “He can bounce it, he can throw it for a strike, move it around and change speeds on you. So it’s nice if you have more than one weapon to get guys out with.”
Nuno’s past two starts have been quite the opposite of Workman. He allowed 12 earned runs in 9 1/3 innings against Oakland and Baltimore, most of those runs due to five homers he gave up. The three homers he surrendered against the Orioles on June 21 upped his total to 13 in 39 1/3 innings at Yankee Stadium this season. “It’s just how I approached guys, and leaving fastballs like that, sometimes I get hit hard,” Nuno said. “I trusted all my stuff today, but they got to my fastball.”
Mark Teixeira went 1-4 with a homer and three RBIs is the series finale with Toronto, giving him a hit in 12 of his past 14 games. He is batting .250 (13-52) during that stretch, with two doubles, four homers, 12 RBIs and five walks. Despite the recent success, Teixeira’s batting average has only gone from .238 to .241, which is on pace to be the second worst of his career.
Notes on the game
The Yankees have won 5 of 7 against Boston this year.
Derek Jeter turned 40 years old on Thursday.
The Yankees are 27-10 this season when they lead after three innings.
First pitch at 7:05 PM on Yes
