Red Sox Host Tigers in Three-Game Series
The Boston Red Sox (58-44) will host the Detroit Tigers (51-49) in a three-game series over the weekend. Both the Red Sox and Tigers have stumbled out of the blocks since the second half of the season, but both clubs remain confident that they can be playing baseball when it comes time to crown a champion in October.
The Red Sox wrapped up a 10-game road trip with a 7-3 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday, sweeping the three-game series. This was their first series win since the All-Star game after losing two of three games in Oakland and splitting four games in Seattle.
The Red Sox finished their West Coast road trip 6-4 and are grateful to be coming back to Fenway Park on a positive note to face the Tigers, who are desperately trying to get at .500, and the chase has been going on for some time now.
Detroit is not the only team chasing something that seems to be so close yet so far. The Red Sox were within a half-game of the first-place New York Yankees in the first week of July. Now, Boston is nowhere near the defending world champions and New York continues to create some separation from the second place Tampa Bay Rays and fourth place Boston in the American League.
The Sox will be looking to tighten the race and bridge the gap between the Yankees and Rays and will send Jon Lester on the mound for Friday's opener. The left-hander, who was elected to his first All-Star Game, has been Boston’s ace as of late and very effective in his past two starts. Lester has provided his club with solid pitching and lasted into the eighth inning in his those two starts.
In his last start in, Lester was perfect for 5 1/3 frames before Mariners’ Eric Patterson hit a shot into center field. Lester then yielded a two-run homer and he lost his shutout, and eventually the game to Seattle.
"That's as good as stuff as we've seen all year," said Red Sox manager Terry Francona of Lester's start. "The outcome is a shame. He pitched better than the linescore will show, for sure. He had a perfect game going for half the game. Then we drop a fly ball and then he hung a breaking ball -- probably the first bad pitch he threw all night."
Meanwhile, things are a little more gloomy for the Tigers, who slipped into third place in the AL Central in the last week. Surely, losing six straight after the Midsummer Classic did not help.
Detroit turns to Armando Galarraga to help the Motor City get out of their second half slump. Similar to the Tigers, Galarraga has seen better days with a 4.29 ERA in his three July starts.
The injury-ravaged Tiger will cap an 11-game stretch against the AL East for Detroit with their three games at Fenway Park.
Brandon Inge, Magglio Ordonez, and Carlos Guillen have all suffered injuries — some more serious than others. To err on the side of precaution, Inge was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a left hand injury. Ordonez’s injury is far more serious and he could miss up to eight weeks after fracturing his right ankle. Guillen will back in the rotation fairly soon as he recovers from a right calf strain and is listed as day-to-day.
"This is part of the game, and no one is going to feel sorry for us," manager Jim Leyland said. "You always get tested in this game, and this is a test. We have to go out, play our butts off and see how many games we can win."
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