ESPN Sunday Night Baseball: Yankees vs. Red Sox preview

Apr 3, 2014; Baltimore, MD, USA; Boston Red Sox starting pitcher

(22) throws in the third inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: Joy R. Absalon-USA TODAY Sports

Date: April 13th, 2014

First Pitch: 8:05 EST

Venue: Yankee Stadium

Starting Pitchers: Boston – Felix Doubront; New York – Ivan Nova

Radio: NY – WFAN 660/101.9; BOS – WEEI 93.7, SBN 1150

TV: ESPN

If you like offense, you might want to tune into ESPN Sunday Night baseball tonight. The New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox battle tonight in a huge AL East matchup that will be a momentum-setter heading into this week. Considering both starting pitchers have an ERA of over 8.50, you can expect the possibility of a high-scoring rivalry game.

Nova will take the hill for New York against a Red Sox lineup that will look to do what the Baltimore Orioles did against Nova on Tuesday. Baltimore sent Nova to the bench before he could complete four innings, racking up 10 hits and combining for seven earned runs over just 61 pitches. Nova did get the win in his first start of the season, but it was against the Houston Astros. He issued five walks in 5.2 innings and allowed six hits.

On the other side of the diamond, Doubront is looking to make up for his previous poor start against Texas. The Rangers shelled the starter, picking up six hits, three walks, and five earned runs in just 2.2 innings. Doubront had a 6.30 ERA against the Yankees in 2014.

As for both offenses, it appears they are progressing as expected. In the tight AL East, the lineups for the Yankees and Red Sox have proven to hit when they need to.

For Boston, look for Jacoby Ellsbury to be a spark. He’ll want to take the final game of this series more than anyone. He already has four hits in the set.

New York should have opportunities all throughout the lineup, so it will be up to Nova to out-pitch Doubront. If either one of the starters has a dominant performance, they’re likely to get a win.