Editor's note: The temperature gauge is a Bill James-created statistic that measures how hot or cold hitters are. We will spotlight Red Sox and opposing team temperatures on game days.
Eric Chavez isn't in the Yankees lineup on Friday night, and believe it or not, that's good news for the Red Sox.
The third baseman, who has been the primary fill-in for the injured Alex Rodriguez, has been red-hot for the month of August. The 34-year-old is hitting an absurd .533 (16-for-30) with four home runs and nine RBIs in his eight starts in August. With the left-handed Franklin Morales going for Boston, Chavez gets the night off.
Ichiro Suzuki is in the lineup, though, and he's been almost as hot lately. He's hitting .444 (12-for-27) in his last 10 games, as he's apparently found his groove since coming over from Seattle in late July.
The temperatures for both the Red Sox and Yankees can be found below.
Red Sox
Dustin Pedroia, 89
Adrian Gonzalez, 86
Carl Crawford, 83
Scott Podsednik, 78
Cody Ross, 76
Jacoby Ellsbury, 70
Danny Valencia, 67
Pedro Ciriaco, 66
Mike Aviles, 62
Nick Punto, 60
Ryan Lavarnway, 59
Jarrod Saltalamacchia, 56
Yankees
Eric Chavez, 99
Ichiro Suzuki, 96
Derek Jeter, 81
Raul Ibanez, 76
Casey McGehee, 75
Nick Swisher, 74
Chris Stewart, 73
Robinson Cano, 72
Mark Teixeira, 67
Andruw Jones, 66
Jayson Nix, 63
Russell Martin, 63
Curtis Granderson, 49
