Rick Porcello will replace David Price tonight. (Rick Yeatts/Getty Images)
BOSTON (WBZ-AM) -- Red Sox and Yankees share the Major League lead at 25-and-10, which means first-place will be on the line tonight when they meet in the Bronx at 7 p.m.
Drew Pomeranz worked the series-opener yesterday in a 3-2 Boston loss--thanks in part to a pair of homers from Giancarlo Stanton--but he loves being part of this rivalry.
"It's still early in the season, but obviously this is a big series for us," he said. "Any time we play the Yankees is a pretty big series, especially, you know, probably the two best teams in baseball right now. It's fun, that's what we're all here for."
David Price was supposed to start tonight, but he was sent home with numbness in his pitching hand, so Rick Porcello was bumped up a day to oppose Masahiro Tanaka.
Porcello is 5-0 with 2.14 ERA. He faced the Yanks last month and worked seven two-hit innings in a 3-nothing win. But, the righty has a 5.17 career ERA in six starts at Yankee Stadium.
Tanaka allowed six runs over five frames his last start versus the Sox, but has a 2.41 ERA his previous three outings. J.D. Martinez has taken him deep three times.
The Bombers have won 16 of 17 to rebound from a seven-and-a-half-game deficit in the East. They've outscored opponents 101-39 along the way.
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Adam Kaufman reports