The Red Sox (8-1) renew their rivalry with the Yankees (5-5) tonight when they send Chris Sale (NR, 1.12 ERA) to the mound at Fenway Park (7:10 p.m., NESN, ESPN). You can read Matt’s series preview here and his pseudosexual longing for/further analysis of the matchup here.

About tonight’s game: Sale, who posted a 2.65 ERA against the Bronx Bombers last year, will look to lead Boston to their ninth straight win. He’ll be faced by Yankees ace Luis Severino (2-0, 1.34 ERA), a Pedro Martinez protege the Sox will be seeing for a long, long time and who seems to get better and better.

The Sox will also see Giancarlo Stanton in a Yankees uniform for the first time. The results have been mixed-at-best so far, but the homers will come, albeit with a hefty side of strikeouts. The team has otherwise been ravaged by injuries and poor relief pitching; the former is why youngsters Tyler Austin, Miguel Andujar and Shane Robinson find themselves starting in Boston, while the latter is why they’re currently .500 team.

On the Sox side, Brock Holt takes over for the injured Xander Bogaerts at shortstop and bats ninth, with everyone else moving up a spot, but it’s otherwise situation normal.

About Sunday’s game: The Sox merely scored six runs in the eighth inning to keep their winning streak alive and beat back the Rays by a score of 8-7. It friggin’ ruled!

A tweet to get you amped for tonight:

LINEUPS