• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Red Sox-Yankees Preview

May 17, 2010 - 1:06 AM By MATT BECKER STATS Senior Writer

Boston (19-18) at New York (24-12), 7:05 p.m. EDT

The New York Yankees are coming off one of their most baffling losses in years, but they don't have time to dwell on it with a series against their archrivals looming.

The Yankees look to bounce back when they open a two-game series against the Boston Red Sox in their first meeting of the season in the Bronx on Monday night.

Leading Minnesota 3-1 in the eighth inning Sunday, New York (24-13) was on the verge of sweeping a three-game series until closer Mariano Rivera surrendered a bases loaded walk and grand slam. It was the first grand slam off Rivera in eight years.

The Yankees fell 6-3, losing for the third time in 15 home games.

"You take the positives," first baseman Mark Teixeira told the Yankees' official website. "We won two out of three, let this one slip away, but we've got another big one coming up."

New York opened this season by taking two of three in Boston and also won two of three at Fenway Park last weekend, scoring 24 runs in the victories.

Teixeira has driven in eight runs against the Red Sox and Nick Swisher has knocked in nine. Swisher didn't play Sunday because of a sore left biceps, but he's hoping to return Monday.

Phil Hughes (5-0, 1.38 ERA) looks to set the tone for this series when he takes the ball for the Yankees.

Hughes, the team's No. 5 starter, leads the AL in ERA and opponents' batting average (.165), and has 39 strikeouts in 39 innings. He has a 0.86 ERA in winning his last three starts.

The right-hander allowed two runs and seven hits with seven strikeouts in seven innings of a 10-3 win over the Red Sox (19-19) on May 7. Five days later in Detroit, he gave up five hits in seven innings of an 8-0 win.

"He's made some huge strides for us," manager Joe Girardi said. "We expected him to be a good starting pitcher coming out of spring training, but I think he has exceeded even what we were hoping we'd get."

While Hughes has looked sharp in all six of his starts, Boston's Daisuke Matsuzaka (2-1, 6.35) will take the mound following his first impressive outing of the year.

Matsuzaka, who started the year on the disabled list with a neck strain, recorded a 9.90 ERA in his first two outings before limiting Toronto to one run and three hits in seven innings of a 6-1 win Tuesday. The right-hander struck out nine and walked none.

"In the previous two, my fastball itself was not that bad, so I wanted to keep going with that," Matsuzaka told the Red Sox's official website.

Matsuzaka pitched well in his only start against New York last season, allowing one run and six hits in seven innings of a 3-0 loss Sept. 26 in the Bronx.

Boston dropped two of three in Detroit over the weekend, falling 5-1 on Sunday. The Red Sox, who have lost five of six on the road, went 2-7 at Yankee Stadium last season.

Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia is expected to be back in the lineup for this series after being held out Sunday to rest his right knee. He was 2 for 11 in the last series against the Yankees and is hitless in 11 career at-bats against Hughes.