- Joined
- Oct 3, 2019
- Messages
- 9,985
- Reaction score
- 28,689
- Points
- 135
The fortieth series of the season and we finally get the Red Sox. The Sox are 73-56 and seven games back of the Rays in third place in the East. Right now they have the second wild card spot, 2.5 games ahead of the A's. Every game counts as they are in danger of missing the playoffs.
Since the break the Sox are 17-20, but if you take out their 7-2 record against Baltimore, Texas, and Minny they are 10-18. Overall they are 41-26 at Fenway and 32-30 on the road. So playing in Cleveland in late August I would say they are an average team that has not been all that great lately except when playing the weakest teams in the league.
The Sox are still an offensive force, ranking 3rd in the A.L. in runs per game, 2nd in slugging percentage, and 4th in OBP. However, they hit much better in Fenway with a line of .276/.816 against .243/.726 on the road. That's a difference of 90 points in OPS.
They rank 7th in team ERA.
They have some big bats including J.D. Martinez (23 HR's, 79 RBI's, .859 OPS), Rafael Devers (30 HR's, 94 RBI's, .902 OPS), Xander Bogaerts (.302/.881) and Alex Verdugo (.287/.790). As a team they hit righties and lefties equally well.
Tonight they are starting lefty Eduardo Rodriguez, 9-7, 5.19. Rodriguez has a 4.84 ERA on the road and a 3.15 ERA in four August starts so he has been pitching well lately. He has a problem with runners on base (.313/.844) so the key is to get on against this guy and put him in the stretch. He has only allowed two stolen bases this season so I doubt the Tribe will be running like they did last night.
Rodriguez has a tendency to be either very good or pretty bad. In his last eight starts he's allowed 0, 4, 0, 6, 0, 2, 0, and 5 runs. It's almost like he alternates good and bad starts. He's due for a good one tonight.
With Tristan McKenzie getting some days off Logan Allen gets the start. Allen has pitched most of the year at Columbus with a record of 2-3, 7.95. Things haven't gone much better recently. This year has been a disaster for Allen and I think the Indians are really doing him a disservice by asking him to face the Red Sox when he has been floundering badly in Columbus. My preference would be to have brought in Garza last night when they were up 8-4 on Texas and have Trevor Stephan start tonight against the Sox.
Also, why did they use Clase with a four-run lead?
Hopefully the bats will continue to hit and Rodriquez will have one of his bad games tonight. But I don't see how Allen escapes without giving up five or more runs in three or fewer innings. In Allen's last start nine days ago he gave up 7 hits (including two HR's) and 3 walks to a AAA team while failing to make it out of the 4th inning. This game could get very ugly very fast.
Since the break the Sox are 17-20, but if you take out their 7-2 record against Baltimore, Texas, and Minny they are 10-18. Overall they are 41-26 at Fenway and 32-30 on the road. So playing in Cleveland in late August I would say they are an average team that has not been all that great lately except when playing the weakest teams in the league.
The Sox are still an offensive force, ranking 3rd in the A.L. in runs per game, 2nd in slugging percentage, and 4th in OBP. However, they hit much better in Fenway with a line of .276/.816 against .243/.726 on the road. That's a difference of 90 points in OPS.
They rank 7th in team ERA.
They have some big bats including J.D. Martinez (23 HR's, 79 RBI's, .859 OPS), Rafael Devers (30 HR's, 94 RBI's, .902 OPS), Xander Bogaerts (.302/.881) and Alex Verdugo (.287/.790). As a team they hit righties and lefties equally well.
Tonight they are starting lefty Eduardo Rodriguez, 9-7, 5.19. Rodriguez has a 4.84 ERA on the road and a 3.15 ERA in four August starts so he has been pitching well lately. He has a problem with runners on base (.313/.844) so the key is to get on against this guy and put him in the stretch. He has only allowed two stolen bases this season so I doubt the Tribe will be running like they did last night.
Rodriguez has a tendency to be either very good or pretty bad. In his last eight starts he's allowed 0, 4, 0, 6, 0, 2, 0, and 5 runs. It's almost like he alternates good and bad starts. He's due for a good one tonight.
With Tristan McKenzie getting some days off Logan Allen gets the start. Allen has pitched most of the year at Columbus with a record of 2-3, 7.95. Things haven't gone much better recently. This year has been a disaster for Allen and I think the Indians are really doing him a disservice by asking him to face the Red Sox when he has been floundering badly in Columbus. My preference would be to have brought in Garza last night when they were up 8-4 on Texas and have Trevor Stephan start tonight against the Sox.
Also, why did they use Clase with a four-run lead?
Hopefully the bats will continue to hit and Rodriquez will have one of his bad games tonight. But I don't see how Allen escapes without giving up five or more runs in three or fewer innings. In Allen's last start nine days ago he gave up 7 hits (including two HR's) and 3 walks to a AAA team while failing to make it out of the 4th inning. This game could get very ugly very fast.
