The Red Sox announced Ranger Suarez will start Wednesday’s game against the Yankees, sending him to the mound opposite New York’s Will Warren in the second game of the series.
Suarez was listed on Boston’s lineup with a 2-3 record and a 3.38 ERA. He comes off a high‑strikeout outing in Cleveland on Sunday when he fanned 10 batters in 93 pitches while allowing four runs on eight hits over five innings. He also carries recent memory of his April 22 start in Boston, when he allowed four runs on five hits in 4 2/3 innings and took a 4-1 loss to New York.
Warren is the Yankees’ scheduled starter, shown at 7-1 with a 3.22 ERA. He has been strong recently — 3-0 with a 2.78 ERA in his past four starts — though he is 1-2 with a 9.42 ERA in three career starts against the Red Sox.
Friday’s opener set the scene for the rematch: Boston beat New York 5-3, getting homers from Willson Contreras and Andruw Monasterio and three RBIs from Contreras. Contreras is listed as the Red Sox first baseman and is in an on-base tear — 25-for-60 with a.417 average during a 17-game on-base streak — and he’s homered in consecutive games for the second time this season.
Boston’s starting nine also includes Jarren Duran in left, Ceddanne Rafaela in center, Wilyer Abreu in right, Masataka Yoshida as DH, Carlos Narváez behind the plate, David Hamilton at third, Nick Sogard at second and Marcelo Mayer at shortstop. New York’s lineup reads Paul Goldschmidt at first, Ben Rice as designated hitter, Cody Bellinger in left, Amed Rosario at third, Trent Grisham in center, Anthony Volpe at short, Jazz Chisholm Jr. at second, José Caballero in right and Ben Rice listed at catcher.
The matchup matters beyond the names. Suarez has seen the Yankees this season and lost to them in April; Warren has been pitching well overall but has a shaky record when facing Boston. New York is also coping without Aaron Judge after his injury was announced on Tuesday — the Yankees are 1-3 since his absence, scoring 13 runs and hitting.208 in those first four games, and they were 3-for-21 with runners in scoring position over that stretch.
Boston’s offense showed a lift Friday, with multiple home runs for the 10th time this season and homers from Contreras and Monasterio. Manager Chad Tracy said the homers are “coming more frequently” and that many of them have the kind of variety that change outcomes, noting that one swing can be a game‑changer. Still, the club sits with an AL-worst 48 home runs, a tension beneath the recent pop.
Suarez’s profile feeds directly into that tension. He’s struck out batters in bunches recently — the 10‑K night in Cleveland was the most obvious sign — but he has also surrendered multiple runs in both his last trip to Cleveland and his April 22 outing against New York. If Boston’s uptick in power is to matter, Suarez will need to limit damage early and let that lineup provide the margin.
What to watch Wednesday: whether Suarez can replicate the swing-and-miss stuff that produced double-digit strikeouts or if Warren’s recent run of form will blunt Boston’s offense. Also key will be how the Yankees handle RISP without Judge; their 3-for-21 mark in the four games since his injury has left their offense vulnerable even when starters are sharp.
The simplest unresolved question is the decisive one: can Suarez slow the Yankees again after the April loss and give Boston a chance to extend the series advantage? The answer will arrive when the first pitch is thrown Wednesday, with the matchup — and Contreras’ bat — likely to determine how meaningful Suarez’s start becomes.
