MLB Preview: Yankees Vs. Red Sox (Aug. 31) At Yankee Stadium

The New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox will face off Thursday night for the opener of a four-game series at Yankee Stadium, after playing a three-game set at Fenway Park earlier this month.

Yankees vs. Red Sox series preview

The Yankees (70-61, 2nd in American League East) lost two of those three games. The Bombers are 4.5 games behind the division-leading Red Sox (75-57).

Here is everything you need to know to watch the series opener:

Game: Yankees vs. Red Sox

Stadium: Yankee Stadium

Date: Aug. 31, 2017

Time: 7:05 pm EST

Yankees TV: WPIX, MLBN (out-of-market only)

Red Sox TV: MLBN (out-of-market only), NESN

CC Sabbathia (10-5, 3.82 ERA) will start for the Yankees. The left-hander hast thrown well in two starts since coming off the disabled list, allowing only three runs in 13 innings. Sabbathia will be making his 12th career start against the team that drafted and developed him, but first this season.

The Red Sox will counter with lefty Eduardo Rodriguez (4-4, 4.19 ERA), who has struggled since returning from the disabled list. Since then, Rodriguez has gone 0-2 with a 5.08 ERA in eight starts. Against the Yankees, he has gone 2-1 with a 1.38 ERA in four starts since the start of his career.

BOSTON, MA – JULY 16: Aaron Judge #99 of the New York Yankees begins to the round the bases before he is robbed of a home run by Jackie Bradley Jr. #19 of the Boston Red Sox in the eighth inning of game two of a doubleheader against the New York Yankees at Fenway Park on July (Photo by Adam Glanzman/Getty Images)