Things are heating up in the Bronx…
As summer quickly approaches, the word “hot” comes to mind. For New York and Boston, it is not the temperature, but baseball. The two hottest teams with the best records in Major League Baseball will meet in the Bronx on Tuesday for a three game battle for 1st place in the AL East. With Boston’s unbelievable 17-2 start, their best in team history, and New York walking the .500 line at 9-9 to start the season, no one could have predicted a one game separation coming into this series. The Boston Red Sox will defend their first place standing against a home team that is 16-2 over the their last 18 games, a winning stretch not seen by the organization since the 1998 and 1980 Yankees.
Let’s take a look at the offense of each team coming into this series.
Yankees Red Sox
Batting Average .250 .269
OPS .780 .792
Hits 290 327
Doubles 75 85
Triples 4 4
Home runs 48 46
RBI’s 190 181
The offensive production of both clubs are so similar, there is no telling which team will come out on top after this series.
Speaking of heated, we will also be watching if there is any carry-over from a brawl at Fenway on April 11th, resulting in suspensions of The Yankees Tyler Austin and Red Sox Joe Kelly. With both suspensions having been served, they will see each other again.
Two contenders, two dedicated and passionate fan bases, the Rivalry is alive and well in 2018.
Featured Image credit: Baseball Hot Corner
Photo Credit: Boston Herald