The Yanks and the Sox…Yanks and Sox….here we are again and I have to say this is the one series I’m in favor of MLB keeping an unbalanced schedule for. Do I need to see Yanks-O’s 19 times a year? No. Do I need to watch nine or ten games a season at the backdrop of the Skydome…ahem, Rogers’ Centre? Hell no.

But Yanks-Sox? Now there’s a series I’ll always be ready for…particularly now that more than half the games are off the schedule and the Yanks are on the verge of making it a three-way race in the East. Yes, they’ve won six in a row and the pitching has been smokin’…plus, the June-July hot streak (thank you interleague ball and second rate teams…and that includes the Rays — yes, I said it) has been noteworthy. But who are we kidding? The Yankees aren’t for real until they send a message to Boston at Fenway Park and that means winning this weekend series.

Let’s look at the starters over the next three days.

Chamberlain vs Beckett. I’ll take Beckett who is 3-0 against the Yanks this season. Still, Joba does better commercial endorsements.

Pettitte vs Wakefield. This is the one game where Boston is at a disadvantage from the mound. Pettitte has been gigantic in the second half of any season for years now, but Wakefield is a mystery. We’ll know early if the knuckler is working or not…and if it is not, the Bombers will have batting practice until Terry Francona has seen enough.

Ponson vs Lester. Jon Lester has thrown a no-hitter, beaten cancer and carries a 3.20 ERA into his start on Sunday. Sidney Ponson is 6-1 with a respectable AL ERA of 4.01…but a closer look shows 99 hits and 27 walks in 78.1 innings. Somehow, he’s been a 258-pound Houdini getting out of jams with double plays and strokes of luck. Unfortunately for Sidney, the Red Sox are not a team that forgives too many base runners.

One never really knows how starting pitching will shake out as nothing ever really goes according to plan. Ponson may win the only game of the series for the Yanks and Beckett may get shelled in a winning effort. Baseball is funny like that. Still, the Yanks will need enough starting pitching to keep them in games so that Robinson Cano and the Yankee bullpen can win them (okay, Cano’s not the only one hitting, but he is on FIRE). Joba and Pettitte are the most likely Yankee heroes…or it could be Edwar Ramirez.

One last thought. If Ponson soon explodes — as he probably will — there is immediate help available. Ian Kennedy (I still have faith) has just completed 14 innings of one-run pitching in AAA ball.

We’ll likely see him soon.

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