Boston Red Sox (29-27, third in the AL East) vs. New York Yankees (36-19, first in the AL East)

New York; Thursday, 7 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Red Sox: Chris Sale (1-6, 4.19 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, 88 strikeouts) Yankees: J.A. Happ (4-3, 5.09 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, 50 strikeouts)

LINE: Red Sox favored by 1 1/2 runs; over/under is 8 1/2 runs

BOTTOM LINE: New York hosts Boston to begin a four game series.

The Yankees are 16-4 against the rest of their division. New York's team on-base percentage of .333 is seventh in the league. Gio Urshela leads the club with an OBP of .384.

The Red Sox have gone 11-9 against division opponents. Boston's team on-base percentage of .337 is third in the American League. Mookie Betts leads the team with an OBP of .389. This is the first game between these teams in 2019.

TOP PERFORMERS: Luke Voit leads the Yankees with 38 RBIs and is batting .262. Gary Sanchez is 9-for-32 with five home runs and 11 RBIs over the last 10 games for New York.

J.D. Martinez leads the Red Sox with 11 home runs and has 31 RBIs. Rafael Devers has 17 hits and is batting .000 over the last 10 games for Boston.

LAST 10 GAMES: Yankees: 8-2, .281 batting average, 3.97 ERA, outscored opponents by 26 runs

Red Sox: 5-5, .286 batting average, 4.75 ERA, outscored opponents by 11 runs

Yankees Injuries: Luis Severino: 60-day IL (shoulder), CC Sabathia: 10-day IL (knee), Jordan Montgomery: 60-day IL (elbow), Jonathan Loaisiga: 60-day IL (shoulder), Ben Heller: 60-day IL (elbow), Dellin Betances: 60-day IL (shoulder), Jake Barrett: 10-day IL (elbow), Aaron Judge: 10-day IL (oblique), Jacoby Ellsbury: 60-day IL (hip), Troy Tulowitzki: 10-day IL (calf), Didi Gregorius: 60-day IL (elbow), Greg Bird: 60-day IL (foot), Miguel Andujar: 60-day IL (labrum), Giancarlo Stanton: 10-day IL (bicep).

Red Sox Injuries: Tyler Thornburg: 10-day IL (hip), Brian Johnson: 10-day IL (elbow), Nathan Eovaldi: 10-day IL (elbow), Dustin Pedroia: 60-day IL (knee), Mitch Moreland: 10-day IL (back), Tzu-Wei Lin: 10-day IL (knee).

___

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by HERO Sports, and data from Sportradar.

More From