Jake Bennett takes Brayan Bello’s rotation spot for the Red Sox on Saturday, and his first start against the Yankees comes with Boston trying to clinch the four-game series with a game to spare. The rookie lefthander is stepping into a tight spot after six scoreless innings and nine strikeouts in Colorado on Monday.
Jake Bennett, Red Sox Rotation Spot
Bennett had not faced any Yankees batters before this game. That makes Saturday a direct test of a pitcher who arrived with a 1-3 record and a 3.71 ERA, then backed it up with his best recent outing in Colorado. Boston asked him to absorb Brayan Bello’s turn in the rotation, and that alone gives the start added weight.
The Red Sox entered the game having won the first two games of the four-game series. A third straight win would put the series away before the final game, and Bennett was the arm chosen to try to push them there.
Gerrit Cole and the Yankees
Across the field, Gerrit Cole started for the Yankees with a 2-2 record and a 3.62 ERA. He was coming off his worst outing since returning from reconstructive elbow surgery after allowing five runs and nine hits in 4 1/3 innings against Detroit on Monday, and he did it on 89 pitches.
The Yankees also entered with limited recent momentum, hitting.211 in their last nine games. They were trying to avoid a third straight loss while Boston kept pressing in the series.
Boston’s pitching stretch
Boston’s pitching staff had produced a quality start in nine straight games, and Chad Tracy did not hide what that run has done for the club. After Friday’s game, he said, “The at-bats have been really great these last two days, but watching those guys go out there and consistently pitch six innings or into the seventh is pretty impressive.”
He added, “It’s great” after the staff produced another quality start. Payton Tolle had just retired the first 16 hitters and allowed three base runners on Friday, a run of work that kept the rotation pressure on Bennett and made Saturday’s assignment look less like a fill-in and more like a continuation.
That is the shape of the matchup now: Bennett trying to carry a strong outing from Colorado into a first look at New York, and the Red Sox trying to turn a rotation patch into a series win. How he handles a Yankees lineup he had never seen before was the part left for Saturday to settle.
