Afternoon Red Sox Delight – 9/1

A.J. Burnett (L), Jon Lester (R)

After winning last night, the Boston Red Sox look to grow their lead in the AL East in the rubber game of a three-game set with the New York Yankees tonight at Historic Fenway Park.

Today’s first pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. and will be broadcast in the Red Sox television market on NESN. If you live in the Yankees broadcast area, you can catch the game on the YES Network. If you don’t live in either market, you may be in luck as the MLB Network is scheduled to have coverage of the game outside of the Red Sox and Yankees markets. And if you can’t catch the television broadcast, you can always listen to the game on the 2011 Red Sox Radio Network.

Jon Lester makes his 26th start of 2011 tonight for the Red Sox. In his previous 25 starts, Lester is 14-6 with a 3.09 ERA. He’s made three starts against the Yankees this season and is 2-1 with a 5.00 ERA (10 ER/18 IP). He’s made 15 career starts against them and is 8-2 with a 3.62 ERA. Six of those starts have come at the Fens where he is 2-1 with a 5.19 ERA.

Since joining the Evil Empire, A.J. Burnett has not beaten the Red Sox. In eight starts as a member of the Yanks, he is 0-4 with a 7.77 ERA, including a loss this year back on June 8th where he allowed eight runs (seven earned). Overall in his career, Burnett has made 16 starts against the Red Sox and is 5-4 with a 5.16 ERA. Nine of those starts have come at the Fens where he is 3-3 with a 6.04 ERA. He’s made 27 starts this season and is 9-11 with a 5.31 ERA.

Click on the read more button below to see today’s lineups, batter/pitcher matchups and links from the day if you’re on the home page.

Here are this evening’s lineups:

81-53		83-52
1. Derek Jeter	SS	1. Jacoby Ellsbury	CF
2. Curtis Granderson	CF	2. Marco Scutaro	SS
3. Mark Teixeira	1B	3. Adrian Gonzalez	1B
4. Robinson Cano	2B	4. Dustin Pedroia	2B
5. Nick Swisher	RF	5. David Ortiz	DH
6. Andruw Jones	LF	6. Carl Crawford	LF
7. Jesus Montero	DH	7. Jed Lowrie	3B
8. Russell Martin	C	8. Josh Reddick	RF
9. Eduardo Nunez	3B	9. Jarrod Saltalamacchia	C
A.J. Burnett	SP	Jon Lester	SP

And here is how the hitters have fared against today’s starting pitchers:

New York Yankees @ Boston Red Sox batter/pitcher matchups

With rosters expanding today, the Red Sox have added Conor Jackson, who they acquired in a trade last night, and Felix Doubront to the roster.

Check back and/or refresh often as more links will be added if/when they become available before game time.

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Pregame notes: Drew not yet ready, CoJack vs. D-Mac [Clubhouse Insider]

J.D. Drew likely to miss another week with injured finger [Clubhouse Insider]

Nation STATion: Quantifying Lackey’s awfulness [CSN New England]

SpookyWorld coming to Fenway this Halloween [CSN New England]

1-2-3 Inning: Matt Albers [CSN New England]

Beckett the x-factor vs. Yankees [CSN New England]

Video: Phil Mickelson takes batting practice at Fenway [CSN New England]

Notes: Drew (finger) figures to miss about a week [CSN New England]

Valley Fever in rearview, Jackson looks to contribute [CSN New England]

Youkilis Tutors The Kid Who Could Eventually Replace Him [Dan Hoard – PawSox]