Yanks Look To Gain Another Game With Kuroda On The Mound

While the crowd at Fenway Park was busy booing Alex Rodriguez Friday night, the New York Yankees were busy taking care of the Boston Red Sox in the series opener, giving the Red Sox a lose they'll surely want to forget, as the Yankees would game one, 10-3.

Alfonso Soriano continued his hot hitting, driving in four more runs to his total to 18 in his last four games, tying him with the great Mickey Mantle for the most all-time in a four-game span.

Mark Reynolds made his Yankees debut a grand one, driving in three runs, including a two-run homerun in his first at-bat. And for those of you that were wondering and didn't hear, John Sterling didn't give much thought into Reynolds homerun call, using, "You're on on the Mark, Reynolds." The same line used for Mark Teixeira.

Friday's win was the Yankees' fifth win in their last six games, and their sixth win in their last eight overall. The Yankees have looked much better as a team since being swept by the Chicago White Sox last week, with the offense finally picking up and scoring runs.

Today's Lineup, 4:05 EST @ Fenway Park:

Gardner CF
Suzuki RF
Cano 2B
Soriano LF
Rodriguez 3B
Granderson DH
Nunez SS
Overbay 1B
Stewart C
Kuroda RHP

Pitching Preview:

Hiroki Kuroda's record may only be 11-7, but with the ways he's been pitching this season, he could easily be 15-3. Kuroda has been pitching great for the Yankees all season, but a lack of run support at times has caused him to a the hit in the loss column.

With a 2.33 ERA this season, Kuroda has lately been at the top of his game, as he hasn't allowed more than three runs in a start since June 30th -- that's a span of seven starts.

His last starts in particular was against the Los Angeles Angels on Monday, when he tossed eight scoreless innings, giving up just three hits -- it was his league leading 9th scoreless starts this season.

"His offspeed stuff is very difficult to pick up," Angels catcher Chris Iannetta said after the start. "The rotation on it, you couldn't really pick it up. You had to wait a long time, which made you late on the fastball. If you're trying to hit the fastball, you're ahead on the offspeed. He kept guys off-balance -- very deceptive, very good location."

Kuroda will be facing off against Red Sox right-hander John Lackey, who made some pretty interesting comments to the Boston Media a couple days ago, saying that he has a huge problem with MLB letting A-Rod play during his appeal.

"I've got a problem with it. You bet I do," Lackey said. "How is he still playing? He obviously did something and he's playing. I'm not sure that's right. ... It's pretty evident he's been doing stuff for a lot of years I've been facing him."

Lackey will get the chance to face A-Rod on Saturday when he takes the mound with his 7-10 record and 3.32 ERA. The biggest matchup surrounding the impending match-up is whether or not Lackey will throw at A-Rod after expressing his feeling towards to slugger.

Lackey last took the mound in Kansas City to face the Royals last Sunday, taking the loss for the second straight outing after allowing four runs on seven hits in seven innings of work. Lackey is also looking for his first win since July 12th.

QUESTION: Do you think Lackey will throw at A-Rod? Click the follow button below to follow me on Twitter and tell me what you think about Lackey and A-Rod.

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