(Sports Network) - For an offense that hasn't produced many fireworks lately, a matchup with Josh Beckett might be the last thing the New York Yankees want to see right now. The Boston Red Sox ace will attempt to pitch his team to a second straight victory over the Bronx Bombers when the bitter American League East rivals continue a four-game set with an Independence Day matinee this afternoon at Yankee Stadium.
Except for an 18-run outburst in a victory over Texas on Wednesday, the Yankee bats have been close to silent during the club's rough recent stretch. New York has scored three runs or less in five of its last six games and were shut out by the Red Sox' Jon Lester in last night's opener of this key series.
Lester (7-3) yielded just five hits and struck out eight in Boston's 7-0 win on Thursday, with Jacoby Ellsbury and Mike Lowell each knocking in two runs to help the defending world champions stop a five-game losing streak.
The Red Sox roughed up Andy Pettitte (9-6), as the New York starter allowed six runs (5 earned) and nine hits while lasting just 4 2/3 innings.
Boston's Dustin Pedroia singled in the first inning to extend his hitting streak to 11 games. The scrappy second baseman is batting .531 (26-for-49) during the tear.
Robinson Cano and Melky Cabrera each had two hits in New York's fourth loss in its last five contests. The Yankees have mustered a total of only four runs in those four defeats.
A sudden turnaround may not be in the works with Beckett on the mound this afternoon. The hard-throwing right-hander has put together three straight strong starts and already owns a pair of wins over the Yankees this year, including an April 12 decision in the Bronx in which he tossed 6 2/3 innings of three-run ball.
Beckett has surrendered a mere four runs in 22 innings over his last three outings, although he's gone just 1-1 over that time. The 2007 All-Star held Houston to two runs over seven innings in a no-decision this past Sunday, less than a week after he gave up just two runs in eight frames during a hard-luck loss to Arizona on June 23.
For his career Beckett owns a 6-3 record with a 5.87 earned run average in 10 regular-season starts against the Yankees. The 28-year-old also had a memorable five-hit shutout at Yankee Stadium in Game 6 of the 2003 World Series that clinched a championship for the Florida Marlins.
New York will send out the struggling Darrell Rasner today for the right- hander's first taste of the Yankee-Red Sox rivalry. The unheralded hurler has cooled off considerably after an impressive beginning to the season and enters this afternoon's tilt having lost six of his last seven starts.
After winning his first three starts and posting an excellent 1.89 ERA after being promoted from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes Barre in early May, Rasner has gone 1-6 with a 5.68 ERA over his seven most recent mound trips. His last outing wasn't a bad one, as the Nevada product held the Mets to two runs through five innings on Sunday. He still was saddled with the loss in a 3-1 Yankees' setback.
Rasner has been tough at home this year, however. In four Yankee Stadium starts this season, the 27-year-old is 3-1 with a 2.08 ERA over 26 innings.
Boston owns a 4-2 advantage over New York in this year's season series, with the teams having split a two-game set at Yankee Stadium in mid-April. The Yankees won six of nine tests with the Red Sox as the host last year.
