The Red Sox have certainly turned things around, and are now back in the playoff race. They now have a 4 game series against the Royals at home, and they need to take advantage if they want to keep climbing the AL East standings.
Tonight we will see Dice-K vs. Brian Bannister. Matsuzaka has allowed five or more runs 3 times since coming off the disabled list, but his other 2 outings have been nothing short of brilliant. The questions is whether or not he can be consistent. I have no faith in the Royals lineup, so I think Dice-K will have another good outing. The thing to watch is his fastball. If he is hitting between 90-92 then the is fine, if he is in the upper 80's then it could be a tough night.
Brian Bannister is a solid pitcher, but he is nothing special and the Red Sox have always taken advantage of him (he is 0-4 with a 5.87 ERA against them). He has been on a little bit of a hot streak going at least 6 innings in each of his last 3 starts, but the Sox should still be able to roll over this guy.
Sox win 7-3
Player of the Game: Youk
Game starts at 7:10 on NESN.
Sox lineup for tonight...
Marco Scutaro SS
Dustin Pedroia 2B
David Ortiz DH
Kevin Youkilis 1B
J.D. Drew RF
Adrian Beltre 3B
Jeremy Hermida LF
Jason Varitek C
Bill Hall CF
Pitching: RHP Daisuke Matsuzaka (3-1, 5.76).
No comments:
Post a Comment