The Red Sox feature the kind of meaty middle-of-the-lineup that used to be associated with the Yankees: depth, power and potency that make it difficult for pitchers to navigate through an order.
Joe Girardi sounded downright wistful of those days Sunday night when he talked about the Yankees’ offensive troubles.
“It’s difficult because you need that big bat in the middle [of the lineup],”he said before the Yankees finished a three-game series against the Red Sox at the Stadium on Sunday night. “Carlos [Beltran] has provided one and last year we had four. [Brian McCann] has hit his home runs, but the other two guys [Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira] have struggled.