The Sox walked away with a win last night, but Jon Lester left the game with a lat strain after only 4 innings. Luckily the Sox held on for the win. Ellsbury and Navarro were the only two Sox to end up hitless, and the Blue Jays managed a rally at the end of the game that would have tied it up without some late game geroics from Darnell McDonald, Jason Varitek, and, some may argue, home plate umpire Brian Knight. Brett Cecil went for a complete game loss, and held the Sox to only 7 hits, so his performance was much better than expected. Tonight the Sox will try to cap off the series with another win before welcoming the Orioles to Fenway Park.
Pitching Matchup: Tim Wakefield (4-3, 4.82 ERA) vs. Ricky Romero (7-7, 2.75)
Wakefield’s last outing wasn’t fantastic, with only 5.1 innings pitched and a no decision (the Sox went on to win the game). He gave up 5 runs over 11 hits and generally wasn’t at his best. The Blue Jays displayed an ability to push back against the Red Sox last night, but the hope is that this was a one time outburst and won’t dictate their play tonight as well. Wakefield has only put 2.1 innings in against the Blue Jays this season.
Romero was a dominant pitcher for the Blue Jays last year, going 14-9 with a 3.73 ERA. His K/9 rate sits right around where it was last season (7.55 vs. 7.46) and his BB/9 has actually dropped a bit (3.20 vs. 3.51). Romero throws 5 pitches: a fastball, curveball, cutter, slider, and changeup. His slider is statistically terrible, but it hasn’t been thrown enough times to really give a good reading. The rest of his pitches are pretty good, with his fastball, curveball, and changeup getting a combined 4.5 runs above average. Look for him to continue to strike batters out and put up a tough fight.
Keys to a Sox victory are to get ahead early and pound Romero with runs, and to play strong defense because Wakefield pitches to contact. Good luck and go Sox!
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