After dropping 4 straight, the Red Sox try tonight to snap this losing streak and regain first place in the AL East. The lineup for today looks much like yesterday’s, with Josh Reddick earning another day of playing time off of his 2-3 1 RBI game yesterday. Gonzo also kept his hit streak alive. Kevin Youkilis is also playing very well in this series, with 1 RBI and 3 walks. He hasn’t been able to find a hit yet, but today is looking like a great day to snap that mini-streak.
Pitching Matchup: Andrew Miller (0-0, 4.76 ERA) vs. James McDonald (5-4, 4.86 ERA)
McDonald is a good pitcher at home, with a 2-1 record and a 3.43 ERA, and Miller is relatively unexperienced as a Red Sox starter. In his last outing, Miller pitched 5 scoreless but yielded a 3-run homer to Orlando Hudson, tying the game and earning a no-decision. Boston later won that game 14-5. McDonald only throws three pitches: fastball, curveball, changeup. None of them leap off the page as particularly good, and in fact the fastball and the changeup are yielding 2 runs given up above the average. Alternately, Miller throws a fastball, a changeup, and a slider. Pitching stats for Miller this season are somewhat unhelpful due to this being only his second start, but his slider has some nasty stuff on it, and when his changeup is working it’s a great strikeout pitch. Keys to the Sox pulling this one out today are not stranding runners on base and not getting Miller and McDonald locked into a pitcher’s duel.
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