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The Angels and Yankees continue a 3-game series in the Bronx at 7 ET on Wednesday Night Baseball.

Fresh off a 6-4 win Tuesday night, the Los Angeles Angels will look to win its first series against the New York Yankees in the Bronx since May of 2007 (swept a three-game series). The Angels are 4-11 in their last 15 games in New York.

On the mound

Garrett Richards will make his major league debut Wednesday night. Richards was rated the sixth-best prospect in the Angels organization by ESPN.com’s Baseball Insider Keith Law. In 21 starts at Double-A Arkansas, Richards went 12-2 with a 3.06 ERA while striking out 100 in 141.0 innings pitched. The 2011 Texas League All-Star is 27-8 with a 3.10 ERA in 55 career minor league starts.

The Yankees counter with rookie Ivan Nova, who’s 6-0 with a 2.91 ERA in his last seven starts. Nova’s last loss was to the Angels on June 3. In his last start (August 4), Nova struck out a career-high 10 batters without issuing a walk against the Chicago White Sox. That effort earned Nova his 10th win of the season, making him the fourth Yankees rookie in the Divisional Era to win at least 10 games.

Player Focus

In 35 career games, Bobby Abreu is hitting .318 with seven HR and 26 RBI against the Yankees, including a .571 (8-for-14) average with two HR and four RBI in four games this season. Abreu recorded his 16th career multi-HR game Tuesday night, including the game-winning shot against Mariano Rivera in the top of the ninth.

Curtis Granderson hit his 29th HR of the season Tuesday night, one shy of his career high set in 2009. The HR was Granderson’s 15th at home, setting a single-season career high for HR at his home ballpark.

Stat of the Game

Two days after allowing the game-tying run to score in the 9th inning at the Boston Red Sox, Mariano Rivera took the loss Tuesday night after surrendering a two-run HR to Abreu. That was the first ninth-inning HR allowed AT HOME by Rivera that gave the lead to the opposing team since May 7, 2009 (Carl Crawford). Rivera has continued to struggle against left-handed batters this season, continuing a downward trend over the last four seasons.

For more information on Rivera’s struggles, check out the piece by Mark Simon of Stats and Information on Rivera’s struggles with his cutter.

The Arizona Diamondbacks have gone from worst (65-97 in 2010) to first in the NL West. After Tuesday night’s win, they are 61-49 and tied with the San Francisco Giants for first place in the NL West (the teams finish their three-game series Wednesday afternoon). One of the biggest reasons for this turnaround has been the huge year put up by Justin Upton, a player whose name was floated as possible trade bait last winter. Upton has responded to those rumors by putting up the third-highest Wins Above Replacement (5.3) of any player in the National League.

Upton extended his hitting streak to 14 games Tuesday night with a 398-foot home run in his final at-bat of the game. Upton is the hottest he has been all year; during the 14-game streak, he has more extra-base hits (15) than singles (9), and as many home runs as strikeouts (7). His slash line for the streak is .436/.484/.982, and he’s done all of this against the strong pitching of the Giants and Milwaukee Brewers, as well as in the pitcher-friendly confines of PETCO Park.

Upton has seen roughly the same percentage of pitches in the strike zone this year as he did in 2010, with similar pitch-type breakdowns. What’s changed is that Upton has been far more aggressive at the plate, shown by an increase in his swing rate. He is generating more power as well, putting a greater percentage of the pitches he swings at in play. Despite this increased aggression, Upton has seen a large drop-off in his strikeout rate.

Upton’s GB/FB ratio has also improved for the third straight year, to the point where he is now putting a higher percentage of balls in play in the air (42 percent) than on the ground (37 percent). Upton’s Isolated Power (Batting Average without singles) has spiked 79 points as a result of this increase in fly balls.

Upton turns 24 this month and is locked up through 2015 for a total of $50 million, topping out at a salary of $14 million in 2014 and 2015. The Diamondbacks made a couple of moves at the deadline because they feel they can win in 2011, but with Upton, they have a franchise player to anchor the lineup around for years to come.

The Boston Red Sox bring the best record in the American League into their matchup against the Cleveland Indians Monday night on ESPN (7 ET). Boston’s starters have picked up 49 wins on the season, tied with the Texas Rangers for the second-most in the AL (New York Yankees lead with 51).

Cleveland led the AL Central for the majority of the first half of the year but now finds itself in second place in the division, and heads to Boston on a slide (2-8 in their last 10 games). The Indians are hoping the trade for Ubaldo Jimenez provides a spark to a starting rotation that has allowed 13 ER and 5 HR over its last three games.

On the Mound
John Lackey takes the mound tonight for Boston looking to decrease an ERA (6.20) that is the worst in the majors among MLB pitchers with at least 15 starts. Lackey has had success this year getting ahead of batters in the count. His first-pitch strike percentage is 61.7 percent, compared to the league average of 59.3 percent.

The first batter of the game has reached base 11 times out of 17 plate appearances against Lackey this season. And he’s allowed 15 first-inning runs in 17 starts.

Josh Tomlin, who has pitched at least 5.0 innings in each of his first 33 career starts (the third-longest streak to start a career among pitchers who debuted in 1900 or later), has allowed 18 HR this season. The HR differential against him at home vs on the road is significant - one HR allowed per 9 innings at home; one HR allowed per 6 innings on the road.

And it’s specific to left-handed hitters.

Left-handed hitters have two HR in 133 at-bats against Tomlin in Cleveland. They have seven in 134 at-bats against him on the road.

In contrast to Lackey, the first batter of the game is just 3-for-21 against Tomlin this season. He’s only allowed four runs in the first inning all season.

The Matchup
The Indians are 4-2 against the Red Sox this season. They haven’t won more than four games against the Red Sox in a regular season since 2001 (six wins).

Harmon Killebrew, who spent 21 of his 22 professional seasons with the Washington Senators/Minnesota Twins franchise, died today at the age of 74 after battling esophageal cancer. Killebrew announced on Friday that he would no longer receive treatment for the disease, which was deemed incurable by his doctors.

The 13-time All-Star, nicknamed “Killer,” won the 1969 AL MVP Award after hitting 49 HR and driving in 140 runs. Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1984 (the first Twin to be enshrined), Killebrew led the American League in home runs six times and finished his career with 573 round-trippers, 11th on baseball’s all-time list.

Killebrew’s eight seasons of 40 or more home runs is tied for second most in baseball history. Only Babe Ruth with 11 had more.

The Senators moved to Minneapolis prior to the 1961 season. In his first four seasons in Minnesota, Killebrew hit 190 home runs, including 49 in 1964. In all, his 393 home runs in the 1960s is the most of any player in that decade (Hank Aaron was next with 375 HR). His 1,013 RBI in the 1960s was second most, behind only Aaron's 1,107.

As a tribute to Killebrew, the Twins will wear their cream-colored 1961 throwback uniforms for all remaining home games.

Today’s trivia: Roy Halladay pitches against Josh Johnson and the Florida Marlins tonight. Halladay threw a perfect game against the Marlins last year with Johnson on the mound. Only one pitcher has thrown multiple no-hitters against the same losing pitcher. Can you name the matchup?

Jeter on the rise?
Following a 2010 season when Derek Jeter had slash lines of .270/.340/.370 -- the lowest in his career for a full season -- critics argued that he was declining rapidly, both in the field and at the plate.

Entering play on Saturday, Jeter had been even worse: .250/.312/.268.

What was most alarming was the lack of power.

Among 239 players with at least 75 plate appearances entering the weekend, Jeter ranked 223rd in slugging percentage at .268. That gave him an Isolated Power (ISO) of .018. (ISO measures how good a player is at hitting for extra bases. Last season the league average was .145.) Jeter’s lowest ISO for a season is .100, which came last season.

Jeter also recently said that a couple of four-hit games would help get him back on track.

For the most part he was right.

Following a weekend during which Jeter went 6-for-11 with three extra-base hits (including his first two home runs of the season), his batting average jumped 26 points and his slugging percentage rose 82 points.

In terms of slugging percentage, Jeter had the second-best weekend among players with at least five at-bats, slugging 1.182. Only Carlos Gomez, who doubled twice and tripled in five at-bats for a 1.400 slugging percentage, topped Jeter.

The Yankees captain can build on his weekend by facing three Kansas City Royals pitchers that he's fared well against in his career. Jeter is a combined 21-for-55 (.382) with six extra-base hits against Kansas City's projected starters Kyle Davies, Bruce Chen and Sean O'Sullivan.

Bucs above .500
The Pittsburgh Pirates (18-17) have a winning record at the deepest point in a season since May 29, 2004, when they were 23-22. How do the Pirates -- who have finished with a losing record in each of the past 18 seasons -- have more wins than losses?

• 2.81 bullpen ERA -- 2004 was the last time the Pirates' bullpen finished with an ERA under four (3.59).

• 11 saves -- only the Rockies, Yankees and Giants have more. The last time the Pirates led the league in saves was 1991.

• 3.54 team ERA -- Pittsburgh has not had a team ERA under four since 1998. The Pirates' ERA has been above 4.50 each of the past five seasons.

• 11 road wins -- only the Angels have more (12). The last time the Pirates finished with a winning road record? 1992 (43-38), which was the last time they made the postseason.

Trivia answer: In 1973, Kansas City Royals pitcher Steve Busby no-hit the Detroit Tigers with Clyde Wright as the opposing pitcher. Busby’s second no-hitter came in 1974 against the Brewers, with Wright the opposing starting pitcher.

The last time a Dodger brought as long a hitting streak as Andre Ethier is into a meeting with the New York Mets, an ESPN baseball analyst named Bobby Valentine was making his big league debut.

Willie Davis was able to extend his hitting streak to a club-record 30 games in a meeting with the Mets on Sept. 2, 1969. But later in the game, after a call of “In comes Valentine!” from Los Angeles Dodgers radio voice Vin Scully on a two-run single by Andy Kosco, Mets reliever Tug McGraw struck Davis out with the tying run on third base to end a 5-4 Mets victory, one of many amazing wins for the eventual champs. Davis upped his streak to 31 the next day, a number that still stands as the Dodgers' top mark.

Ethier will get a chance to better Davis at Citi Field, with Jonathon Niese the first moundsman in his way.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Ethier will be the fifth hitter to bring a hit streak of 29 or more games into a meeting with the Mets, along with Davis, Pete Rose, Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley. Rose was able to set the NL record for a hitting streak by hitting in his 37th, 38th and 39th straight games against the Mets in 1978. (The streak would stretch to 44 games before ending.)

Rollins reached 33 games with hits in three straight games against the Mets late in 2005. The one hitter the Mets stymied was his teammate, Utley, who had his 35-gamer snuffed on Aug. 4, 2006 by Orlando Hernandez, Darren Oliver and Pedro Feliciano.

Ethier will have to defy his history against the Mets. His. 147 batting average is the third-worst of any position player with 100 at-bats against them, trailing Jerry Turner (.129) and Clint Barmes (.140).

To see how Ethier and his streak could fare against the Mets starters that are lined up for their weekend series, check this out.

(What you need to know for tonight’s Angels-Red Sox game at 7 ET on ESPN.)

This series between the Los Angeles Angels and Boston Red Sox is the last time they will play this season, and Los Angeles probably can’t wait to get out of Boston. Since 1987 -- the year after the Red Sox erased a 3-1 deficit in the 1986 ALCS -- the Angels are 49-82 at Fenway Park.

After taking nine of 10 from the Angels last season, Boston this season is 6-0 against them. In those 16 games, the Red Sox have outscored the Angels 104-49.

The Angels do have the second-best road record in the American League behind the Tampa Bay Rays, but have allowed 16 runs to the Red Sox in the first two games of this four-game series.

On Tuesday, Angels hitters struck out 12 times. They lead the American League with 234. That’s very unusual for a Mike Scioscia managed-team. Since Scioscia took over as Angels manager in 2000, they’ve struck out the fewest times of any team in baseball, and have ranked in the top half of the American League at avoiding strikeouts in each of the last 10 seasons. The only season they ranked in the top five for most strikeouts was in 2000, Scioscia’s first season.

Vernon Wells, who’s struck out 24 times this season, is still hitting under .200 (.176) with just two home runs.

Why has Wells struggled thus far? He’s not chasing or swinging at more pitches this season, but he’s missing more pitches. Last season, Wells’ miss percentage was 20.7 percent. This year it’s 24.6 percent. He’s also hitting just .163 against right-handed pitching this season after hitting .291 against righties last season.

Perhaps Josh Beckett, who’s on the mound tonight for the Red Sox, is just what Wells needs to break out of his season-long slump. In 41 at-bats against Beckett, Wells has hit five home runs -- but only one in his last 30 at-bats.

Beckett will be pitching for the first time in a week. Boston has lost Beckett’s last four regular-season starts against the Angels in Fenway Park. In those starts, he’s 0-2 with a 5.74 ERA

Boston started 2-10, but has rebounded to go 12-5, and starting pitching has been key. In the first 12 games, Boston's starters had a 6.71 ERA and allowed 14 home runs, both of which were worst in the American League through April 15. In their last 17 games, the starters have a AL-best 1.86 ERA and have allowed just six home runs.

With Beckett on the mound, will Jason Varitek be behind the plate? If so, don’t expect him to have much success at the plate against Angels starter Ervin Santana (1-for-15 lifetime). The only active pitcher Varitek has faced at least 15 times and fared worse against is Santana’s teammate, Joel Pineiro (0-for-16).

In fact, the Red Sox have received very little offensive production from their catchers. Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Varitek have combined to hit .167 with no home runs and seven RBI.

While Varitek has struggled against Santana, Carl Crawford has not. He’s 10-for-31 against Santana, and Crawford is showing signs of putting his bad start behind him.

Although Crawford is starting to hit (6-for-11 in May), Boston still is not hitting when it counts. The Red Sox rank 12th in the American League in batting with runners in scoring position (.225), and seventh in the league with the bases loaded (.267).

Bartolo Colon matchups to watch
Magglio Ordonez’s last three hits against Bartolo Colon are home runs, a run that dates all the way back to 2001. But he’s 3-for-his-last 22 against Colon.

Brandon Inge began his career 7-for-16 against Colon, but since is 1-for-his-last-7.

Justin Verlander matchups to watch
Mark Teixeira is 2-for-19 vs Verlander, but hit a three-run homer against him on Opening Day.

Nick Swisher started his career 2-for-3 with two HR against Verlander. But since he’s 6-for-his-last-41 against him.

Also on Verlander
This is the fifth straight season he’s entered May .500 or worse (he was 3-2 in 2006). During his career, Verlander is 9-14 with a 4.75 ERA in March/April, but is 49-21 with a 3.19 ERA from May through July.

Also on Colon
Bartolo Colon is 0-6 with a 7.20 ERA in his last nine starts against the Detroit Tigers. His last win against them was April 13, 2003. Colon enters the day with a sub-.500 record against three AL teams — the Tigers (8-9), the Boston Red Sox (8-10) and the New York Yankees (4-5).

Yankees at Comerica
The Yankees are 21-22 all-time at Comerica Park. They hit .195 in four games there last season, losing three.

Other items of note relating to that:
-Derek Jeter’s .245 regular season batting average at Comerica is his worst at any AL park. He was 1-for-17 there last season (.059 BA) and is 3-for-30 at Comerica since the start of 2009.

Derek Jeter vs Tigers
Comerica Park-- .245 BA, 3 HR, 9 extra-base hits in 36 games
Tiger Stadium-- .360 BA, 2 HR, 8 extra-base hits in 22 games
>> .369 BA vs Tigers in home games

Jeter is a .330 career hitter against the Tigers despite the Comerica struggles.

- Mark Teixeira is 4-for-28 at Comerica Park as a Yankee. His .220 batting average at Comerica is surpassed only by Fenway Park (.209) for his worst BA at an AL venue. His .244 career batting average against the Tigers is his worst against any team.

Miggy Pop
Miguel Cabrera has seven HR in his last eight games against the Yankees, six of them coming at Yankee Stadium.

Lou Gehrig
May 2, 1939 is a significant date in Yankees history. It’s the date Lou Gehrig’s streak of 2,130 consecutive games played ended - against the Tigers.

Today’s Trivia: Want to feel old? Los Angeles Angels starter Tyler Chatwood was born 16 days too soon to be the first pitcher born in the 1990s. Who was the first pitcher born in the 1980s to appear in an MLB game?

Quick Hits: Let’s take a look at some surprising league leaders so far this season.

• Howie Kendrick leads the majors with five HRs off of left-handed pitchers. That’s three more than he had last season.

• Your MLB leader in triples? Sean Rodriguez with three. Though he’s hitting just .206, six of his seven hits this season have been for extra bases.

• Jonny Gomes leads the league with five home runs in day games, one more than he had last season.

• Juan Pierre has been caught stealing five times already. The last time an AL player was caught more in April? 1988, when both Rickey Henderson and Mark McLemore were caught six times.

• Billy Butler has already been intentionally walked five times, just three shy of his career high. Over the past 50 years, the most intentional walks for an AL player in April is seven (Ken Griffey Jr. in 1993 and Travis Hafner in 2007).

• Teammates Ryan Raburn (25) and Austin Jackson (24) have struck out more than any other hitters. Combined, those two have more strikeouts than 22 of the other 29 outfields in baseball.

• A.J. Burnett already has six wild pitches. Over the past 50 years, only three AL pitchers have had more in April: Ricky Romero in 2010, Jaime Navarro in 1997 and Bobby Witt in 1986.

• Clay Buchholz has allowed six home runs, after allowing seven all last season. But that’s not even the more surprising number in the AL. Erik Bedard’s seven home runs allowed are the most in the majors. He’s never allowed more than 19 in a season.

• David Price has already hit four batters, most in the majors and one shy of his career high.

• Brad Thomas has pitched just 6 2/3 innings, but has still allowed the most sac flies this season (5).

Trivia Answer: In April 2001, CC Sabathia became the first pitcher born in the 1980s to appear in a game.

Today’s Trivia: When Bartolo Colon, 37, takes the mound Wednesday for his first start with the New York Yankees, he will be the oldest pitcher to start a game this season. Who currently holds that distinction?

Quick Hits: With some of the hottest pitchers set to take the mound, Wednesday sets up to be quite a day for pitching.

• Of the 34 starters scheduled for Wednesday, 11 have an ERA under 2.00 and nine are looking to start 3-0 or better. Eight of the MLB’s top ten in ERA draw starts Wednesday.

• Gio Gonzalez, Justin Masterson, Aaron Harang, Jered Weaver and Matt Harrison are all scheduled to pitch. Each has allowed 1 ER or fewer in 6+ innings in each of their first three starts. (According to baseball-reference.com), the last pitcher to start a season with four straight such starts was Cliff Lee in 2008 (who did it in five straight).

• The last time multiple pitchers started the season with four straight starts of 1 ER or fewer in 6+ innings was 1998: Chuck Finley and Greg Maddux.

• Weaver (4-0, 1.30 ERA) looks to become the first pitcher in MLB history with five wins by April 20, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

• He faces Harrison (3-0, 1.23 ERA), who looks to be the first Texas Rangers pitcher to win each of his first four starts since Darren Oliver in 2001.

• Gonzalez (2-0, 0.47 ERA) faces the Boston Red Sox with the MLB’s best ERA. He’s boasts a streak of 17 scoreless innings and opponents are 0-for-13 with RISP.

• Masterson (3-0, 1.33 ERA) has held right-handed hitters to a .103 BA (3-for-29).

• Jaime Garcia (2-0, 1.35 ERA) takes on the Washington Nationals. In his career, he is 4-1 with a 1.17 ERA. In seven career April starts, he’s never allowed more than two earned runs.

• Dustin Moseley is 0-3 despite a 1.83 ERA. A big reason? The San Diego Padres haven’t scored a run in any of his three starts. According to Elias, the only pitcher in the last 30 years whose team was shut out in each of four consecutive starts was Arizona's Randy Johnson in June-July 1999.

• Harang (3-0, 1.50 ERA) draws the second start of the day for San Diego. He looks to become just the third pitcher to win his first four starts of a season with the Padres. Only Randy Jones (1976) and Andy Hawkins (1985) have done so. Dennis Rasmussen won his first four starts with the Padres in 1988, but was a midseason acquisition.

Trivia Answer: Derek Lowe, who also takes the hill Wednesday, is the oldest pitcher to start a game so far this season. Also 37, he’s just eight days younger than Colon. Last season, Jamie Moyer (47) and Tim Wakefield (44) were the oldest to start a game.

Today’s Trivia: At .459, Matt Kemp leads the National League in batting average. Who was the last Los Angeles Dodger to be the batting champ?

Quick Hits: The Cleveland Indians have won four in a row, and at 12-4 are tied with the Colorado Rockies for the best record in the majors. Let’s focus in on the most surprising team of the season’s first few weeks.

• According to Elias, this is the 1st time the Indians have had the best record in the majors this late in the season since the end of 2007, when they ended the season tied with the Boston Red Sox for the best mark in MLB (both 96–66).

• After sweeps of the Red Sox and Baltimore Orioles, the Indians are 6-0 against the AL East. Last season, Cleveland was just 17-24 against teams in that division.

• Indians’ starting pitchers have 13 quality starts. The last AL team with more quality starts through 16 games? The 1991 Indians with 14.

• In their 12 wins, the Indians have allowed a total of 12 runs.

• Opposing 3-4-5 hitters are batting a combined .185.

• Last season, Indians pitchers only had 967 strikeouts, fewest in the majors, and an MLB-worst 1.69 K per BB. This season, their 2.21 K per BB is 4th best in the AL.

• Their .318 BA with RISP is second in the majors, which helps explain how the Indians lead the AL in runs.

• The Indians are hitting .331 with a .916 OPS against southpaws this season, and have a 5-1 record when facing a lefty starter.

• Dating back to last season, Chris Perez has converted 15 straight save opportunities without allowing a run.

• Relievers Chris Perez, Tony Sipp and Rafael Perez haven’t allowed a run this season in 21 2/3 IP.

• The Indians are a perfect 11-0 when leading at the start of any inning after the 4th.

Trivia Answer: Tommy Davis won back-to-back batting titles in 1962 and 1963, but no Dodger has led the league in batting average since. Of course, Mike Piazza hit .362 in 1997, but was edged by Tony Gwynn (.372).

Today’s Trivia: Miguel Cabrera turns 28 today. Even though he is two years away from 30, he has the most career home runs (252) among active players under 30. Who has the second-most?

Quick Hits – A look at some players and teams that can’t seem to solve a certain inning.

• After allowing 4 ER in the first inning Sunday, Edinson Volquez now has a first-inning ERA of 29.25. It’s just 1.93 in all other innings.

• Twice this season Volquez has allowed back-to-back homers to a team’s first two batters of the game. Only two other active pitchers have had two such games in their careers: Chad Durbin (both in 2000) and Ted Lilly (2001 and 2005).

• The Tampa Bay Rays are just 6-for-49 (.122) in the first inning this season, worst in the majors.

• B.J. Upton is hitting .118 in the first six innings, but is 9-for-18 in the final three innings.

• The Texas Rangers have only eight hits in the first inning, but four are home runs.

• The Philadelphia Phillies are the antithesis of first-inning struggles. They’ve outscored opponents 15-0 in the first. The Phillies have a .393 average in the first compared to just .100 for their opponents.

• The Atlanta Braves are 5-for-39 (.128) in the ninth inning, but that’s not the only area of concern. Out of the ninth spot in the order, the Braves are 0-for-50 this season. Pitchers are 0-for-27, pinch-hitters are 0-for-23.

• Brandon Belt is 1-for-20 in the seventh inning or later and 9-for-30 otherwise.

This Date in Baseball History
1923 - Babe Ruth homers in the first game at the original Yankee Stadium.

1987 - Mike Schmidt hit his 500th career home run off Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Don Robinson.

2007 - Mark Buehrle of the Chicago White Sox faced the minimum 27 batters in a 6-0 no-hit victory over the Rangers.

Trivia Answer: Prince Fielder (195) has the second-most home runs for an active player below 30. Still just 26, he turns 27 in May.

Today’s Trivia: Monday is the 50th anniversary of the first game in Los Angeles Angels history. Can you name the two players with the most games played for the Angels who never made an appearance for another franchise?

After beating the New York Yankees Sunday on ESPN, the Boston Red Sox will try and win two in a row for the first time this season when they host the Tampa Bay Rays at 7 ET on ESPN.

Jeremy Hellickson will face Daisuke Matsuzaka in tonight's game. Hitters leading off an inning are just 6-for-41 (.146) with a walk against Hellickson, including 0-for-6 in his first start of the season. Compare that to Matsuzaka, who allows leadoff hitters to reach base 36 percent of the time.

Offensively, the Rays are struggling and have received very little production from the position once manned by Carlos Pena. Since the start of last season, Rays first basemen are hitting just .186. They hit .194 in 2009, but at least they drew 109 walks. This year, in nine games, their first basemen have drawn none.

With three straight three-hit games, Dustin Pedroia is one player who's swinging a hot bat for Boston. Only four Red Sox in the last 50 years have had at least three hits in four straight games: 2005 Edgar Renteria; 1992 Jody Reed; 1984 Wade Boggs; and 1974 Carlton Fisk.

Elsewhere around MLB:
• The Florida Marlins' Chris Coghlan didn’t record his first extra-base hit until his 104th at-bat of 2010. Despite hitting just .200 this season, he’s tied for the National League lead with five doubles.

• Prince Fielder is 10-for-16 (.625) in two-strike counts, and 4-for-19 (.211) in all other situations. Last season, Fielder hit .182 in two-strike counts.

• A big reason behind Jorge Posada’s .138 batting average? He has a .059 batting average on balls in play (BABIP). Last season the league average was .300.

• Jonny Gomes leads the majors with 12 walks, almost one-third his season total from 2010 (39). He picked up his 12th walk last season on May 28.

• Cleveland's Asdrubal Cabrera already has four game-winning RBI, two fewer than in 2010.

• The Rockies' Troy Tulowitzki is 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position, and 6-for-18 in all other situations.

• Opponents are a combined 0-22 against Matt Cain and Tim Lincecum with runners in scoring position.

Trivia Answer: Tim Salmon (1,672) and Gary DiSarcina (1,086) have played the most games for the Angels without appearing for another franchise.

-- Mark Simon contributed to this report

Today’s Trivia: Can you name the only two players with 50+ home runs for both the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees?

Quick Hits: Let’s take a look at some fast facts regarding the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry and what the fresh faces might mean for 2011.

• The Red Sox and Yankees have split the season series 9-9 in each of the past three seasons. That includes 2009 when the Red Sox took the first eight games against New York.

• Joe Girardi took over in 2008, so that makes him an even 27-27 against Boston while with New York. Including the postseason, Terry Francona is 67-69 against the Yankees as Boston manager.

• According to Elias, this will be the 28th time that the Red Sox have had their home opener against the Yankees. Boston has won the last six and in 14-13 overall.

• The last time the Red Sox faced the Yankees while on a six-game losing streak. According to Elias, it was in the midst of a nine-game streak in 2001. The last time the Red Sox snapped a six-game losing streak against the Yankees? May 1998.

• Mark Teixeira hit eight home runs against the Red Sox last season. That’s the most by a Yankees hitter since Mickey Mantle clubbed nine in 1958. Oddly, Teixeira hit just .237 against Boston in 2010.

• Adrian Gonzalez has never beaten the Yankees, though he’s only had had three chances. Friday is also the Fenway Park debut for the hitter who has the most opposite field home runs in the majors since 2008.

• By contrast, Carl Crawford has almost a full season of data against New York. With a .301 lifetime average, he has 171 hits in 138 games. Among active players, only Manny Ramirez and Vernon Wells have more hits against New York, who is actually tied with David Ortiz for third. In 2005, Crawford tallied 35 hits against the Yankees, the first person to do that since Dale Mitchell in 1952.

• Since 2009, Dan Wheeler has made 10 appearances against the Yankees, but only lasted 5⅓ innings while allowing six home runs. His ERA in that span? 20.25. The Yankees are hitting .467 with a 1.634 OPS.

• It looks like Dennys Reyes won’t quite get to experience the rivalry, as he was designated for assignment Friday. If this is it for Reyes in a Boston uniform, he will go down as the only pitcher in Red Sox history with more hit batsmen (2) than innings pitched (1⅔).

• Russell Martin has faced the Red Sox in three games, and is just 1-for-11 (.091).

• Rafael Soriano has been excellent against the Red Sox in his career with a 2.61 ERA and .178 opponent batting average. He had five saves against Boston last season, the most for a pitcher since Francisco Rodriguez in 2008.

Trivia Answer: Johnny Damon and Mike Stanley are the only players with 50+ HR with both the Yankees and Red Sox. Babe Ruth? He only had 49 homers with Boston.

Today’s Trivia: The Boston Red Sox last started 0-5 in 1996. Which starting pitcher got the win to break that losing streak?

Quick Hits: Let’s dive into the two remaining undefeated teams.

Texas Rangers – 6-0 - Best start since 1996 (7-0)
• Timely hitting has been key. The Rangers are batting .320 with RISP and just .235 otherwise.
• Of their 30 hits with no one on base, 10 have been home runs.
• The Rangers lead the majors with 32 extra-base hits, while their 23 singles are tied for the fourth fewest.
• In the first three innings, Texas is hitting .217 (though six of 15 hits are home runs). From the fourth inning on, the Rangers are hitting .320.
• In three-ball counts, opponents are batting .114 with a .373 OBP. Last season, they hit .248 with a .573 OBP.
• The 1-2 hitters in opposing batting orders are a combined 8-fo-47 (.170).
• Over the past two seasons, Rangers starting pitchers have a 2.21 ERA before April 15.

Cincinnati Reds – 5-0 – Best start since 1990 (9-0)
• The Reds’ bullpen has a 1.29 ERA and has held opposing hitters to a .189 BA.
• Eight of the 17 runs allowed this season have come in the first inning, and the Reds have trailed going into the second inning in three of five games. After the first, Reds pitchers have a 2.03 ERA.
• The top three hitters in the order – Drew Stubbs, Brandon Phillips and Joey Votto – are hitting a combined .406.
• Catchers Ryan Hanigan and Ramon Hernandez have combined for a .476 BA and 1.405 OPS.
• The Reds lead the league with a.339 BA. Take out the pitchers, and the Reds are hitting .349 as a team thus far.
• According to the Elias Sports Bureau, today’s Houston Astros-Reds game will be the first between a 5-0 or better team and a 0-5 or worse team since 2003. It happened three times that season.

This Date in Baseball History
1977 - The expansion Toronto Blue Jays began their major league odyssey with a 9-5 victory over the Chicago White Sox at Toronto's Exhibition Stadium. Al Woods, pinch hitting for Steve Bowling in the fifth inning, became the 11th pinch hitter with a home run in his first at-bat.

1979 - Ken Forsch of the Houston Astros pitched a no-hitter against the Atlanta Braves to duplicate the no-hitter tossed by his brother Bob of the St. Louis Cardinals against the Philadelphia Phillies on April 16, 1978. They are the first brothers to pitch no-hitters.

1984 – The Detroit Tigers’ Jack Morris pitched a no-hitter against the White Sox despite giving up six walks. It was the first Tigers no-hitter since Jim Bunning's in 1958.

Trivia Answer: Making his first start with the Red Sox, Jamie Moyer picked up the win to put an end to Boston’s 0-5 start in 1996. Moyer, now an ESPN analyst, held the Kansas City Royals to one run and four hits in 7⅓ innings.