The New York Yankees arrive at Fenway Park this week holding first place in the AL East and facing a Red Sox team that has won only nine of its first 22 games. Boston sits fourth in the division, tied with Toronto, after managing a series split with Detroit thanks to an extra-inning win and a Patriots' Day comeback.
Luis Gil opens the series for New York, but he has been inconsistent through two starts. He has surrendered four home runs and allowed a combined seven runs across nine innings. Boston counters with Connelly Early, who just delivered his best outing of the year, shutting down Minnesota for six innings while allowing one run. Early's last appearance against the Yankees came in Wild Card Game 3, where he allowed three runs in 3.2 innings.
Wednesday's matchup pits Max Fried against Ranger Suárez. Fried opened the season with back-to-back scoreless starts but has given up 11 runs in his last three outings. Suárez has moved in the opposite direction, struggling early before posting two strong consecutive starts. In his lone start against New York last year, Suárez went 5.1 innings, allowed one run, and struck out eight.
The series finale carries the sharpest contrast in recent form. Yankees rookie Cam Schlittler owns a 1.95 ERA with 36 strikeouts in 27.2 innings and has issued only three walks all season. He shut out Boston for eight innings in last year's Wild Card series while striking out 12. Brayan Bello starts for the Red Sox, having allowed 16 runs in 18.2 innings this year with 12 walks and only 13 strikeouts. Against the Yankees specifically, however, Bello owns a 2.30 ERA across 11 career games and has held New York to a .213/.283/.301 slash line.
