Jon Lester

After a day off on Monday, the Red Sox will send Jon Lester to the mound as they begin the final home series against the Yankees this season.

Lester (9-11, 4.99 ERA) last faced the Yankees on Aug. 18, in one of his best outings of the season, giving up one run (a Curtis Granderson solo homer) in seven innings of work. The outing was a vast improvement upon his previous two outings against the Yankees in 2012, both of which came in July. In his first outing against New York this year, Lester gave up four earned runs in just 4 1/3 innings of work in a 7-3 loss on July 3. Lester earned the win in his second start, a serviceable outing in which he gave up four runs in six innings of work in an 8-6 Sox win.

In his career against the Yankees, Lester has posted a 9-4 record with a 4.23 ERA in 20 career starts. Against the lineup he will see on Tuesday, Lester has posted decent numbers (.268 BA against and a .780 OPS against) but has given up disconcerting power numbers, namely the 16 home runs he has surrendered. These numbers likely will be an important factor for the Yankees, who lead the major leagues with 208 home runs, in a year when Lester already has set a career high in home runs allowed with 22.

The Yankees’ best matchups against Lester will come in the form of Derek Jeter, who has gotten on base at a .387 tick but has had meager power numbers, Nick Swisher (.981 OPS), Granderson (.891 OPS) and Jayson Nix (1.223 OPS).

Making his fourth career start against the Red Sox on Tuesday will be the Yankees’ Hiroki Kuroda, who has outpitched ace CC Sabathia this season, leading New York starters with a 3.14 ERA and 1.11 WHIP.

In those four starts against the Red Sox, three of which came this season, Kuroda has a 1-1 record with a 3.45 ERA and is coming off of easily his best outing against them. On Aug. 19, Kuroda lasted eight innings and gave up one run, a solo home run by Adrian Gonzalez, in a 4-1 Yankees win. Kuroda had another great outing against Boston less than a month earlier on July 29, when he gave up two runs over eight innings, but took the no-decision on a 3-2 Red Sox win. In his first start, though, Kuroda gave up six earned runs over 5 2/3 innings but earned the win in a 10-8 victory.

Kuroda has a great matchup against the current Red Sox lineup, recording a .216 batting average against along with a .563 OPS against in 90 career plate appearances. Even more impressive than the overall numbers is Kuroda’s consistency against the Red Sox lineup, allowing only Cody Ross to record more than two hits against him and allowing one walk against 15 strikeouts.

Yankees vs. Lester (LHP)

Derek Jeter (62 plate appearances): .333 BA/.387 OBP/.386 SLG, 1 home run, 6 RBIs, 4 walks, 11 strikeouts

Robinson Cano (57) .226/.263/.302, 4 doubles, 4 RBIs, 3 walks, 11 strikeouts

Nick Swisher (51): .317/.420/.561, 4 doubles, 2 home runs, 8 RBIs, 7 walks, 12 strikeouts

Mark Teixeira (44): .250/.318/.350, 1 double, 1 home run, 4 RBIs, 3 walks, 16 strikeouts

Alex Rodriguez (40): .189/.250/.541, 2 doubles, 1 triple 3 home runs, 7 RBIs, 3 walks, strikeouts

Andruw Jones (36): .259/.417/.370, 1 home run, 6 RBIs, 8 walks, 8 strikeouts

Ichiro Suzuki (35): .294/.314/.471, 2 home runs, 3 RBIs, 1 walk, 4 strikeouts

Curtis Granderson (31): .286/.355/.536, 2 home runs, 4 RBIs, 2 walks, 13 strikeouts

Jayson Nix (21): .316/.381/.842, 1 double, 3 home runs, 5 RBIs, 2 walks, 5 strikeouts

Russell Martin (16): .182/.438/.182, 2 RBIs, 4 walks, 2 strikeouts

Raul Ibanez (12): .333/.333/.500, 2 doubles, 5 strikeouts

Casey McGehee (7): .143/.143/.143, 1 RBI, 3 strikeouts

Eduardo Nunez (7): .167/.286/.167, 1 RBI

Francisco Cervelli (5): .250/.400/.250

Chris Stewart (4): .500/.333/2.000, 1 home run, 2 RBIs, 1 strikeout

Steve Pearce (3): .000/.000/.000, 1 RBI, 1 strikeout

Red Sox vs. Kuroda (RHP)

Cody Ross (25 plate appearances): .240 BA/.240 OBP/.440 SLG, 2 doubles, 1 home run, RBIs, 4 strikeouts

Scott Podsednik (14): .143/.143/.286, 2 double, 1 RBI, 2 strikeouts

Dustin Pedroia (9): .222/.222/.222

Jarrod Saltalamacchia (9): .250/.250/.375, 1 home run, 3 RBIs, 1 RBI, 1 strikeout

Jacoby Ellsbury (8): .250/.250/.375, 1 double, 1 strikeout

Pedro Ciriaco (7): .000/.000/.000, 2 strikeouts

Ryan Kalish (4): .333/.250/.333, 1 RBI

Mike Aviles (3): .333/.333/.333, 1 strikeout

Mauro Gomez (3): .333/.333/.333, 1 RBI, 1 strikeout

Ryan Lavarnway (3): .333/.333/.333, 1 double