Boston Red Sox vs. New York Yankees
As regular season baseball games go, it doesn't get much bigger than the first Red Sox-Yankees game of the year.
In recent years especially, the season-opening Sox-Yanks showdowns have been memorable. First there was 2004, when the two teams met on April 16 for the first time since Aaron Boone's walk-off pennant-winning home run the previous October - the Red Sox won that one, ruining Alex Rodriguez's first Sox-Yanks game with a 6-2 win.
Then in '05, the two teams met on Opening Day, and the Bombers avenged Boston's 2004 championship run with a blowout win. And who can forget last season? On May 1, 2006, the Sox welcomed back Johnny Damon for the first time, and then spoiled his homecoming with a 7-3 Sox win.
This year, it's time for another bout between the two rivals. The Sox head back to Fenway fresh off of back-to-back wins in Toronto, and they come home with Curt Schilling, Josh Beckett and Daisuke Matsuzaka set to take the mound. The Yankees will counter with Andy Pettitte in Friday's opener... followed by Jeff Karstens and Chase Wright.
Maybe next season we'll see a Sox-Yanks opener with both teams fully healthy. Until then, strap yourselves in for a snoozer. Hey... they can't be thrillers every year.
The pick: The Sox take two of three, thanks to the Yanks' ailing rotation.
-by Evans Clinchy
Alex Rodriguez vs. Daisuke Matsuzaka
The juciest sports match-up of the weekend will have nothing to do with the drab and never-ending NBA playoffs, which kick-off on Saturday and won't end, at the earliest, until June 14. Instead, all eyes will be on Fenway Park on Sunday night, when Daisuke Matsuzaka takes the mound against the Yankees for the first time in his major league career.
The Yankees may be filled with guys you've never heard of - Saturday's starter Jeff Karstens and Sunday's starter Chase Wright have a combined three major league wins in their careers - but the lineup is stockpiled with All Stars that will certainly give Daisuke a run for his $103 million. The hottest of these superstars is Alex Rodriguez, who enters today's series opener with 10 home runs and 26 RBI in his team's 14 games. The latest addition to A-Rod's 2007 highlight reel came yesterday afternoon, when he blasted a 1-0 offering from Indians pitcher Joe Borowski over the center field wall, lifting the Yankees to a dramatic, come-from-behind 8-6 victory, their third in a row.
But, Daisuke has risen to the challenge so far this season, particularly in over-hyped moments. When he faced off against Ichiro Suzuki in a highly-scrutinized match-up of former Japanese greats, Matsuzaka passed the test with flying colors, holding the 2001 AL MVP hitless. In three starts this season, Daisuke has posted a 2.70 ERA and has struck out 24 batters in just 20 innings.
The pick: Daisuke gets his welcome-to-the-big-league's moment - A-Rod goes yard.
-by Sapna Bansil and Rachel Dolin
