Yanks And Sox Open Up Final Series Of The Season

New York Yankees. Boston Red Sox. Fenway Park. Friday the 13th. Put all of those together and you've got the making of a great final series of the season together. With the Yanks right in the thick of the Wild Card race, it makes this series crucial for the Bombers.

Mariano Rivera, who has pitch in the last three games for the Yankees, all of the wins, is enter this weekend in Boston with the intentions of it begin his final trip to Fenway Park. As a man that's already received a couple of standing ovations from the Fenway faithful this season, this weekend is sure to be special.

The Yankees come into this three-game weekend series having won three in a row -- three of the four games against Baltimore, after losing three of four games against the Red Sox last weekend -- while the Sox took two of the three games they had against the Tampa Bay Rays this weeks, letting the Yanks to move within a game of the second Wild Card.

"We've been chasing for the whole year, basically," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "It's obviously become much more interesting the last three or four weeks as we've got guys back. It became a lot more interesting. You know, every day it has that feeling of a playoff game."

Tonight's Lineup vs Boston:

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

Pitching Preview:

Yesterday in Baltimore, Girardi used the method of starting Phil Hughes, using him for three innings, then putting in David Huff for the next three innings to piggyback the two pitchers. With Hiroki Kuroda on the mound tonight for the Bombers, he's hoping he won't have to go to his bullpen very early.

Up until the middle of August, Kuroda was easily the Yankees' top pitcher, and was even working his way into the AL Cy Young conversation. But for the past three-plus weeks, he's been nothing but a concern for the Yanks as the grind of the long season is starting to wear him out.

"At this stage of the season, fatigue really doesn't matter," Kuroda said through his translator. "You have to treat it as if this is going to be your last outing."

Kuroda's last start was against the Red Sox on Sunday when he labored through six innings, throwing a season-high 117 pitches in a no-decision against Boston. Facing a very patient Sox group, he gave up just two runs on five hits,while striking out six. His ERA over the last four outings is a incredibly high 7.43.

He and the Yanks will be going up against Red Sox right-hander John Lackey, who's looking to rebound from the last time he took the mound, which was against the Yankees, when he allowed a season-high seven runs over 5 2/3 innings against them last Saturday.

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