Judge Out 4 to 6 Weeks as Red Sox Vs Yankees Opens

Red sox vs yankees opened Friday with Aaron Judge out for at least four to six weeks after the Yankees ruled him out because of a stress fracture in his rib. The timing hit a weekend series in New York and removed one of New York’s main bats after Judge had already missed the previous three games against Cleveland.

The Yankees turned to Ryan Weathers for the opener against Sonny Gray, while the Red Sox entered the series 10½ games behind New York and in last place in the AL East. That gap made the first meeting since the Red Sox were swept at Fenway Park from April 21-23 even more one-sided on paper.

Gray Gets The Red Sox Start

Sonny Gray took the ball for Boston with a 6-1 record and a 3.06 ERA. He had gone 4-0 with a 2.00 ERA in five starts since returning from a hamstring injury, and he came in 2-3 with a 4.15 ERA in eight starts against the Yankees.

Boston’s lineup ran Duran, Rafaela, Abreu, Contreras, Durbin, Kiner-Falefa, Monasterio, Gasper and Wong. Willson Contreras was in the middle of that order as the Red Sox tried to cover a matchup that had already tilted before first pitch.

Weathers Faces Boston

Ryan Weathers entered at 2-3 with a 3.52 ERA and faced the Red Sox for the first time. New York’s lineup listed Grisham, Rice, Goldschmidt, Bellinger, Chisholm Jr., Jones, Volpe, McMahon and Wells, a group that had to absorb Judge’s absence without waiting for a short series to settle in.

Boston had been 16-14 on the road, but that mark did not erase the problem in front of it: a division race already built with New York far ahead and its top hitter sidelined for weeks. Judge’s rib injury leaves the Yankees to navigate the rest of the series without him, and the lineup on Friday showed how quickly the top of the order had to change around that loss.