Andy Pettitte’s record may show 9-6 but anyone that has been paying attention to his starts this season could tell you he deserves more. He has had 4 no decisions that later turned into victories this season, with lack of offence early preventing him from the W’s.

One of those no decisions was his last start versus Boston on August 9^th. Pettitte looked crisp throwing 7 scoreless innings baffling the BoSox like it was 1996.  Something has clicked in the old man’s head; sharpening his cutter and rebuilding his lefty swag.

Pettitte is going to set the tone for the upcoming Boston series. He’ll be facing off against Brad Penny who hasn’t had great luck this season, except for when he’s playing the Yankees. Against the Bronx Bombers Penny has made two starts and gone 1-0 with a 2.45 ERA. Boston is excited to be hosting this series and after beating up on Roy Halladay, you can believe they will be playing with some serious adrenaline. That is why it’s so important that the Yankee’s trusty veteran is poised and confident tonight. Pettitte is good at handling big situations; let’s hope he is up to the task tonight.

AJ Burnett will be handling game two of the Boston series throwing against Junichi Tazawa, who made his major league debut surrendering the 15^th inning walk-off to A-Rod. You better believe he’ll be thinking of that moment hoping for revenge, and you better believe A-Rod won’t let that happen.

Burnett has really established himself as one of the strongest number 2 guys in the league. There was a time earlier in the summer that he may have even been considered the Yankees number 1. He has had a couple bizarre starts lately (wild pitches, balking, very uncharacteristic) and hasn’t been able to secure a victory in his last 4 starts.  His last outing against the Sox was the 15^-inning pitchers duel where he went deep into the 8^th before letting the bullpen take over. Saturday evening would be a great time for Burnett to grab his first W in August.

CC Sabathia on the other hand has had 4 W’s in the month of August. CC will close out the series against the Red Sox’s ace, Josh Beckett. Beckett was the other half of the 15-inning marathon and as stated in earlier articles, has had great success against the Yanks in his career. But I think it’s going to be very difficult for him to find a win facing off with Sabathia. CC is the hottest pitcher in baseball as of late with opponents only hitting .185 off him.

Offence was seriously lacking for Boston in their last series with the Yanks so you can absolutely count on Sabtahia to re-exploit Boston’s lack of offence despite their hot bats as of late. I wouldn’t be surprised if CC closes out the sweep on Sunday night baseball (bold), especially with Beckett coming off his weakest performance of the season.

This is a big series for both teams, maybe a little more important for Boston, but still crucial for both. Boston is trying not to look at this series as anything more than a way to improve their playoff chances. But you can tell they’re looking to rinse that bad taste out of their mouths left by the Yanks two weeks ago. Papelschmuck is so excited he forgot what “half the time” means as you will see form this excerpt from the Daily News:

            “We’re 8-4 against them this season,” the Red Sox closer said about the Bombers, who begin a three-game set at Fenway Park tonight. “We beat                  them half the time.”

That would be twice as much or, what I think you were going for, %50 more, Papeldouche.

The Yankees don’t need to do anything different than what they’re doing. They just need to find a way to stay hot and continue dominating. Jeter has invited everyone to climb on his back if they’d like to be carried to October, but most of the team is handling the trip to the post season well on their own.

A-Rod hasn’t hit that streak of games where he looks impossible to get out this season. He hasn’t found his stride yet but was the most notable hero in the last Boston-New York series. Now would be a great time for him to decide to be invincible at the plate.

I am as confident as I am excited for this series. As much as I’d like to see another sAWKs sweeping it would be just as satisfying to get out of Boston having won the series. The Yankees can by no means relax but they should play with the confidence that the past two months has created. The Yankees are the best team in baseball, all they have to do to win this series, is play like it.