Chris Singleton

ESPN baseball analyst and former major league player Chris Singleton joined the Mut & Merloni show on Monday to discuss the Red Sox-Yankees series and other baseball news. To hear the interview, go to the Mut & Merloni audio on demand page.

Singleton had played with Erik Bedard, the pitcher the Red Sox recently acquired at the trading deadline, when they both played for the Orioles. He said he thinks the left-hander has what it takes to pitch in Boston.

“Erik to me is a tough kid in a sense where I was in the Baltimore organization when he was there in 2002 and he was just coming up and coming along,” he said. “The one thing about him, I think he has the mindset and the mentality to be able to pitch in Boston. It is not an easy place to play whether you pitch or hit, I think he is a matter-of-fact type of guy, to the point. I think everyone was encouraged by the start that he had. He is still getting better. There were some runs in Seattle that he didn’t start well, but even Eric Wedge, his manager, said he liked the way the ball was coming out of his hand. He’s found a groove and it was pretty effective for a nice little stretch.

“I think being in the atmosphere that he is in, if he can get that knee 100 percent healthy it will be a boost. As you very well know, there are some question marks in that rotation, and questions with heath and Clay Buchholz and you cross your fingers with John Lackey hoping that he will give you a solid outing and he is turning the corner and you really don’t know. … The jury is still out with Erik Bedard, but I’d like to believe he’d be a positive for the Red Sox this season.”

The weekend series with the Yankees featured the usual lengthy games, but Singleton said that is something that comes when the Red Sox and Yankees play.

“You just have to expect that,” he said. “When you look at amount of pitches per plate appearance with the Boston Red Sox, top of baseball, it’s a tick or two under four, and the Yankees are there are well. So you look at teams that swing the bat well, high on-base percentage, the opposing pitcher’s really have to make sure they’re throwing the right pitch and understanding the situation. That is going to take a little bit longer and something you have to come to expect.”

CC Sabathia struggled again Saturday against the Red Sox, allowing seven runs in six innings in his team’s 10-4 loss. He is now 0-4 with a 7.20 ERA against the Red Sox this season. Singleton says that is something that he will need to overcome if he were to meet the Red Sox again in the postseason.

“I think CC acknowledges that the Red Sox are sort of his nemesis, they’re tough,” Singleton said. “He had some quotes on Sunday in the paper that they’re a tough lineup, they’re tough to get through. Acknowledging that maybe it will help him a little bit, but in all reality the Red Sox have been really good against him like other people. … When you look at these teams both headed for the postseason and a strong possibility that they will see each other again in the postseason, where they haven’t in a long time, that is going to come back. There will be a lot of confidence the Red Sox hitters have and the CC will have to deal with the demons of what he’s had over the course of the season.”