Red Sox Ready for Play, A’s Snap Win Streak, Rockies Look for Win No. 8
It has been a long week for Boston, beginning with Monday’s marathon bombings to Friday’s lockdown as police looked for one of the suspects. The Kansas City Royals traveled to the city for a Boston Red Sox series but will play one less game as Friday’s was postponed.
The Red Sox (11-4) will enter Saturday’s game with a three-game sweep of the Cleveland Indians (5-9) this week; they have a six-game win steak. They sit at the top of the American League’s East Division with their nemesis, the New York Yankees (8-6), behind two games.
They will return to action with Clay Bucholz (3-0, 0.41) on the mound for Saturday’s game while James Shields (1-2, 3.43) will pitch for the Royals.
Out in the West, the Oakland A’s (12-5) still have the best record for the American League but saw their six-game win steak end with a loss to the Tampa Bay Rays (6-10), 8-3, on Friday. This came from an two-run home by Evan Longoria, two RBI singles by Ben Zobrist and 10 hits for the win.
The A’s starting pitcher Brett Anderson (1-3) injured his ankle in the first inning and left the game. This came after he gave up four runs and four hits during his brief playing time. Evan Scribner went in for him in the second inning.
The series will continue Saturday in Florida with Jeremy Hellickson (0-1, 4.91 ERA) taking the mound for the Rays, while Jarrod Parker (0-2, 10.80) will pitch for the A’s. He’ll look for a better outing than his previous one where he allowed eight runs with nine hits in a 10-1 loss to the Detroit Tigers last Sunday.
The hot bats will continue for the Rays as they’ll take a second win on Saturday (-123, 8 o/u).
National League
The Atlanta Braves (13-3) continue with their top record but lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates (8-8) on Friday, 6-0. They’ll have Paul Maholm (3-0, 0.00) take the mound against his former team on Saturday night. Maholm is now the sixth pitcher since 1920 to start a season with three consecutive scoreless starts for a minimum of five innings.
The Pirates will look for a second win with James McDonald (1-2, 5.27) pitching for the team. He’ll have to have a short memory from his previous start last Monday. He allowed eight runs (three earned) with eight hits in just 1 2/3 innings of play.
Look for the Braves to regroup after Friday’s loss to get the win (-145, 7.5 o/u).
Coming in right behind the Braves is the Colorado Rockies with their 12-4 record. They’re riding a seven-game win streak.
This weekend they’re hosting the Arizona Diamondbacks who they defeated 3-1 on Friday.
After missing more than a year, Rockies pitcher Jorge De La Rosa (1-1, 3.86) is back and will take the mound on Saturday. After getting off to a bumpy start (a 6.10 ERA in his inaugural two starts), he gave up two hits with seven strike outs in six scoreless innings in last Sunday’s 2-1 win over the San Diego Padres.
This represented De La Rosa’s first win since 2011 (May 13).
He plays well against the Rockies, as he’s 6-2 (2.28 ERA) from his 10 previous starts, striking out 57 during 59 1/3 innings.
As for Arizona, they’ll have Trevor Cahill (0-2, 3.50) pitching for them. In his last game on the previous Saturday, he threw 7 1/3 innings for six hits for a 1-0 walkoff win against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
But he doesn’t always play well against Colorado. In his last five career starts against them, a 1/3 has been a 5.65 ERA. Dexter Fowler has gone 4 for 5 with two triples when playing against him, while teammate Michael Cuddyer is 1 for 14.
Arizona has struggled on the road, hitting .221 as they opened a 1/3 from a nine-game road trip.
Their struggles will continue on Saturday as Colorado gets the win (-122, 9.5 o/u).
