They're baaaack. This weekend, the Red Sox pay a visit to the Bronx to renew pleasantries with the Yankees. For as familiar and fatiguing as this rivalry can feel—even within the Northeast Corridor—this is the first time since September 24–25, 2011 that the two teams have squared off in the second half while running first and second (in either order) atop the AL East.
This is the fourth series of the season between the arch-rivals, and while the Yankees (60–53) hold a 6–3 advantage in games over the Red Sox (65–49) thus far, they've tumbled 7 1/2 games relative to the Sox since taking two out of three from them at Yankee Stadium June 6–8, going from three games ahead in the AL East to 4 1/2 back.