|
Joba Chamberlain
has made six starts so far for the
New York Yankees
, but none have been as high-profile as this one.
He'll make his first career start against the
Boston Red Sox
on Sunday night when the AL East rivals finish their four-game series at Yankee Stadium.
Chamberlain (2-2, 2.22 ERA) is 1-0 with a 2.17 ERA in six outings since being inserted into the rotation on June 3. The second-year
converted reliever steadily increased his pitch count in his first five outings, throwing a career-high 114 pitches over 6
2-3 innings in his first win as a starter, a 10-0 victory in Pittsburgh on June 25.
The right-hander lasted four innings his next time out Tuesday as he gave up two runs, threw 91 pitches and did not get a
decision in a 3-2 loss to Texas.
None of those outings, though, brought the spotlight that facing the defending World Series champion
Red Sox
(52-38) does. Chamberlain has thrown a total of 4 1-3 innings against Boston over three relief appearances, giving up one
run and four hits.
The Yankees (46-42) are counting on Chamberlain to help them salvage a split of this series. New York lost the first two games
to fall six games behind second-place Boston in the AL East race before using an outstanding start by
Mike Mussina
for a 2-1 win on Saturday.
Mussina pitched six scoreless innings and earned his 11th victory, but not before
Mariano Rivera
pitched in and out of trouble in the ninth inning.
Mike Lowell
drove in a run off Rivera and Boston loaded the bases with nobody out before the Yankees closer retired the next three hitters
for his 23rd save.
"You can't have doubts," Rivera said. "You have to make pitches. If you have doubts, a lot of things can happen."
Dustin Pedroia
went 2-for-4 to extend his hitting streak to 13 games for Boston, which almost dealt the Yankees a heartbreaking loss.
"When you get bases loaded and nobody out, most of the time we're still playing,"
Red Sox
manager
Terry Francona
said.
New York is trying to figure out what to do with its outfield after
Johnny Damon
's injury in Friday's 6-4 loss. Damon suffered a sprained acromioclavicular joint crashing into the wall and may be headed
to the disabled list for the first time in his 14-year career.
With
Hideki Matsui
already on the DL with a swollen left knee, the Yankees have just three healthy outfielders available -
Bobby Abreu
,
Melky Cabrera
and
Brett Gardner
.
"We've been pretty banged-up and hopefully we can finish the first half strong and kind of evaluate where we're going," Damon
said.
Boston starter
Tim Wakefield
(5-6, 3.72) tries to reverse his recent poor history against New York. The knuckleballer has posted a 10.02 ERA in losing
his previous four starts versus the Yankees, and is 1-8 with a 6.82 ERA in his last 10 outings against them.
Over his last seven starts, though, Wakefield has been outstanding while providing Boston with plenty of innings. He's lasted
at least seven innings in each of those outings and has a 1.98 ERA in that span, but only a 2-3 mark thanks to poor run support.
The
Red Sox
wasted another strong effort from Wakefield on Tuesday as he allowed two runs over seven innings in a 3-1 loss at Tampa Bay.
It was his fourth straight road loss.
Wakefield has given the Yankees'
Jason Giambi
fits in their careers. Giambi is a .183 hitter against him, including just three hits in his last 33 at-bats with nine strikeouts.
|
