Evil Empire vs. The Nation

The Yankees may be 0-5 against the Red Sox on the season but things are a little bit different this time around. We'll start with the Red Sox who have Kevin Youkilis back having missed 3 games of the previous 5. Big Papi continues to slump and the emphasis for him to get it going will be intensified during this series. The Red Sox though still continue to get good pitching and so far this season Jason Bay has been a Yankee killer much like Manny used to be when he was in Boston. Dustin Pedroia continues his solid play as does Mike Lowell who also plays well against the Yankees. Jacoby Ellsbury continues to be one of the best centerfielders in the game. Things are different for the Yankees this time around as they are in first place as opposed to hovering around .500 the last time these teams met. Yankees starting pitching is also much better and the bullpen is shaping up just fine after recent solid outings from Brett Tomko, Phil Hughes, Alfredo Aceves, and Phil Coke. The return of A-Rod has also helped drastically as Mark Texiera has been on a rampage since A-Rod's return to the lineup. This lineup that has Melky Cabrera, a .300 hitter and probably the Yankees most clutch hitter this season batting 9th in the order. Swisher is heating up again and Johnny Damon is having a great year. Couple all that with Captain Derek Jeter having his best season in about 3-4 years and this is a different Yankee team than the one Boston last saw. Looking forward to the second game of the series which pits Wang against Wakefield which could end up a 5 hour, home-run derby type game. Burnett vs. Beckett should be better than the last meeting they had and C.C. dominates against Brad Penny in the final game. If the Yanks can get a win in the first game over Beckett they can pull off the sweep in Boston which would be a tremendous boost to a team already playing at an incredibly high level. Baseball is back to normal with Yankees vs. Red Sox in a battle for first place in the A.L. East.