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After last night's great game, the Yankees will send their other talented young pitcher, Michael Pineda, out against John Lackey and the Red Sox. Hopefully we will see something of a repeat with tonight's lineup:
Tonight's lineup: Ellsbury 8 Jeter 6 Beltran DH McCann 2 Soriano 7 Teixeira 3 Gardner 9 Roberts 4 Johnson 5 Pineda 1
— Erik Boland (@eboland11) April 23, 2014
Jacoby Ellsbury leads off again with Derek Jeter and designated hitter Carlos Beltran following him. Brian McCann bats cleanup after his three-hit game last night and Alfonso Soriano is in left field, batting fifth. Mark Teixeira remains at first base while Brett Gardner starts in right field. Brian Roberts and Kelly Johnson round out the bottom of the order and the infield.
Tonight will mark Gardner's first career start in right field. Unlike Yankee Stadium, Fenway Park has a stunted left field due to the presence of the Green Monster. Right field is actually the expansive part of the stadium, so Gardner in right makes sense. Unfortunately, it could cause some trouble on the base paths since his arm isn't as strong as the typical right fielder's.
It appears that the injured Ivan Nova isn't quite ready for surgery just yet:
Ivan Nova asked for a second opinion from Dr. Andrews. Team is sending MRI results. Not clear yet whether Nova will be reexamined.
— Lohud Yankees Blog (@LoHudYankees) April 23, 2014
The highly skilled, yet very much dreaded, Dr. Andrews is never where pitchers want to end up. As much as we, or Nova, might hope for a different outcome, we've seen this enough times to know what is imminent. The initial MRI said a partially torn Ulnar Collateral Ligament, the Yankees' team doctor said a partially torn Ulnar Collateral Ligament, Dr. Andrews will say a partially torn Ulnar Collateral Ligament. Ivan Nova is going to need surgery, it's just a matter of how fast the Yankees and Nova himself want to accept it. Since it's a 12-month healing process they might want to start accepting reality soon.