Final Home Stand For The Month Of June!
After taking two of three from the Philadelphia Phillies over the weekend, the Boston Red Sox have come back to Boston. For their final home stand for the month of June! The Sox open up the final home stand with three games vs the Florida Marlins. The Marlins who are coming off a weekend sweep of the Toronto Blue Jays, will be looking to extend their three game winning streak vs the Sox tonight at Fenway. Meanwhile the Sox who had won six in a row, before losing the final game in Philadelphia on Sunday, will be looking to start a new win streak this evening.
Pitching Match-Ups For This Series:
Tuesday June 16 – Chris Volstad (4-6) vs Tim Wakefield (8-3)
Marlins: Volstad’s last outing was the worst in his young career. For the first time in his career, he allowed six runs, 10 hits and did not strike out a batter. The 22-year-old was in trouble in almost every inning when he faced the Cardinals on Tuesday and struggled from the start, allowing a three-run homer in the top of the first. In his next start, Volstad will make his Interleague debut against the Red Sox.
Red Sox: Wakefield turned in his eighth quality start of the season last Wednesday against the Yankees, limiting the Bronx Bombers to three runs over six innings for his eighth victory of 2009. He has reeled off four wins in his last five decisions, anchoring a rotation that has been buoyed by the improved efforts of Josh Beckett and Jon Lester. In 43 career innings against the Marlins, the veteran knuckleballer is 3-3 with a 5.65 ERA.
Wednesday June 17 – Andrew Miller (2-2) vs Brad Penny (5-2)
Marlins: Miller struggled some in the first inning his last time out on Thursday, but then found his groove, retiring 14 straight Cardinals before allowing a one out single to Rick Ankiel in the sixth. The 24-year-old allowed three runs on seven hits over 6 1/3 innings while striking out eight. Miller will face the Red Sox in his next start. The big left-hander has had success against them before, allowing one run on three hits over seven innings while striking out six. Of the current group of Red Sox, only Mark Kotsay has ever recorded a hit against him.
Red Sox: Penny tossed six shutout innings against the vaunted Yankees last Thursday at Fenway Park, but a faulty outing by reliever Manny Delcarmen cost the burly right-hander his sixth win of the season. Despite swirling trade rumors and the imminent return of John Smoltz, Boston’s No. 5 starter has kept the Red Sox in nearly every game he’s pitched this season. A former Marlin, Penny is 1-1 with a 5.00 ERA in three career starts against his former team.
Thursday June 18 – Ricky Nolasco (2-6) vs Jon Lester (5-5)
Marlins: In his last outing, Ricky Nolasco wasn’t involved in the decision. But he certainly pitched well enough to win. Facing the Blue Jays in Toronto, the 26-year-old right-hander was sharp. In six innings, he gave up two runs on five hits. He walked one, but struck out nine, his most since fanning 10 Mets on Sept. 27, 2008. It was Nolasco’s second start since being brought back from Triple-A, where he was sent to regain his form. Nolasco threw 110 pitches, his second most on the season. On May 3 at the Cubs, he threw 112. Nolasco was matched against Roy Halladay, who was hurt after three-plus innings. Nolasco has never faced the Red Sox. His last win was on May 8 at Colorado.
Red Sox: Though Lester came away with a no-decision in his last start, it was one of the best performances of the left-hander’s career. Over seven innings against the defending World Series champion Phillies, Lester gave up two hits and struck out 11 over seven innings. He became the first lefty in Red Sox history to strike out 10 or more in three straight starts. Lester has 96 strikeouts in 81 1/3 innings. This will be his seventh start of the season at Fenway, where Lester is 3-2 with a 4.06 ERA.
Series Outlook: I’m going out on a limb and saying the Sox take 2 of 3 from the Marlins. Simply due to the Marlins pitching staff, which is quite young and unproven. Which might be great news for a few Sox players, especially Dustin Pedroia who’s been in a mini slump over the last few days. Plus we all know that Mike Lowell, Kevin Youkilis and David Ortiz all love to bat agaisnt the NL pitchers.