8* Boston (1:10 ET): While the Red Sox may not necessarily be the best team in the AL East (Tampa Bay is), I remain far more skeptical of the Yankees being able to stay in this race due to a YTD run differential that is far inferior to the other three teams they are competing against. Boston, Tampa Bay and Toronto are all +67 or better in that department. The Yankees are just +6. While they did pull off a thrilling comeback on Saturday, all four runs scored by the Yanks came in the eighth inning. The Red Sox are still 9-3 against them this season and won the first two games of the series. I think they will win this series.

It certainly appeared that Boston was well on its way to a fifth straight victory when they took a 3-0 lead into the top of the 8th yesterday. But it was not to be. Martin Perez will start on Sunday, hoping to avoid a second straight loss to the Yanks and third straight loss overall. He took the loss last Sunday at Yankees Stadium after giving up three runs in four innings. But there was a stretch this season when Boston went 8-2 in Perez's starts. That was before the B2B losses. It was during that stretch that Perez led the team to a 5-3 win over the Yankees. All three runs that he allowed were unearned in that one.

The Yankees will go with Domingo German, who has a 4.58 ERA in nine previous appearances vs. Boston. German has not lasted longer than 4 ⅓ innings in any of his last five starts. One would have to go all the way back to May 20th to find the last time he went a full six innings. German took the “L” opposite Perez in the aforementioned 5-3 game from last month. The Yankees are a weak offensive club while Boston is #3 in MLB in runs scored. Throw in the respective run differentials and the fact the Red Sox have owned the season series and a bounce back from Saturday looks rather certain. 8* Boston