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It’s do or die time for the Skanks. They currently sit 8 games out of first place behind the beloved Red Sox. With 6 games remaining this season against each other, it’s time for the Red Sox to end the Skanks hopes at a title and make them play for the wild card. Strong pitching matchups are the highlight of the series in my opinion as both teams throw their top 3 pitchers out to the wolves.

With that being said, let’s take a look at the lineups for both teams, courtesy of Nick Cafardo from the Boston Globe.

Red Sox
1. Dustin Pedroia, 2B
2. Kevin Youkilis, 1B
3. David Ortiz, DH
4. Manny Ramirez, LF
5. Mike Lowell, 3B
6. J.D. Drew, RF
7. Jason Varitek, C
8. Coco Crisp, CF
9. Julio Lugo, SS
–Daisuke Matsuzaka, P

Yankees
1. Johnny Damon, LF
2. Derek Jeter, SS
3. Bobby Abreu, RF
4. Alex Rodriguez, 3B
5. Hideki Matsui, DH
6. Jorge Posada, C
7. Robinson Cano, 2B
8. Andy Phillips, 1B
9. Miguel Cabrera, CF
–Andy Pettitte, P

And here is a look at how the teams have done against tonight’s starting pitchers courtesy of Mike McDermott from the ProJo SoxBlog.

Red Sox vs. Andy Pettitte
-Kevin Youkilis, 5 for 9 (.556), 2B, HR, 2 BB
-J.D. Drew, 6 for 14 (.429), 2B, 2 HR, BB
-Manny Ramirez, 29 for 69 (.420), 8 2B, 3 HR, 6 BB
-Jason Varitek, 16 for 46 (.348), 2B, 3B, HR, 4 BB
-David Ortiz, 11 for 34 (.324), 3 2B, HR, 4 BB
-Coco Crisp, 4 for 13 (.308), BB
-Dustin Pedroia, 3 for 10 (.300), 2B
-Mike Lowell, 3 for 11 (.273), 2B, BB
-Julio Lugo, 5 for 19 (.263), 3 BB
-Bobby Kielty, 1 for 5 (.200), 2B
-Eric Hinske, 1 for 7 (.143), 2B, BB
-Alex Cora, 0 for 2
-Pettitte is 14-6 with a 3.29 E.R.A. in 27 career appearances (25 starts) against Boston. This season, he has made five appearances (four starts) against the Red Sox, and has gone 1-1 with a 5.01 E.R.A.

Yankees vs. Daisuke Matsuzaka
-Jason Giambi, 3 for 5 (.600), 2B, BB
-Derek Jeter, 3 for 6 (.500), HR
-Johnny Damon, 2 for 6 (.333), BB
-Jorge Posada, 1 for 3 (.333)
-Alex Rodriguez, 1 for 5 (.200), BB
-Robinson Cano, 1 for 6 (.167)
-Hideki Matsui, 0 for 2, BB
-Melky Cabrera, 0 for 3
-Bobby Abreu, 0 for 6, BB
-Matsuzaka has made two starts against New York this year; he is 2-0 with a 6.92 E.R.A. in those games.