Steve Merril's Sunday Night MLB Preview (Yankees/Red Sox)

Ivan Nova has begun to find his form after a rough start to the season. The Yankees' starter has allowed three earned runs or less in six straight starts with the team winning four of those outings. Nova's been able to keep the walks down and the strikeouts up. He gave up two runs and seven hits in six innings his last start in Boston which came all the way back on April 20th. Nova had made three previous starts against Boston allowing four runs in each of those games, but they came in 2010 and 2011.

SOUTHPAW SUCCESS

Jon Lester has had mixed results as of late. The southpaw has given up six hits or more in nine of his last 10 starts. The good thing for him is the run support that he's received. Boston has scored four runs or more in seven of those starts, so they've been able to get around his struggles. Lester has also been good at reducing the damage for the most part, allowing three earned runs or less in six of those 10 starts. He will look for better success against a New York squad that shelled him last season on September 24th in New York. Lester gave up eight runs and eight hits in just over two innings of work.

CURRENT TRENDS

Under is 7-1 in NYY last 8 Sunday games Yankees are 4-0 in Game 4 of a series Red Sox are 26-12 in their last 38 Sunday games Red Sox are 2-6 in Game 4 of a series

HITTERS TO WATCH

Derek Jeter is 17-for-49 vs. Lester Alex Rodriguez is 6-for-34 vs. Lester David Ortiz is 3-for-11 vs. Nova Adrian Gonzalez is 0-for-8 vs. Nova