What was to be the final game in the Boston Red Sox’ opening series with the Pittsburgh Pirates was rained out.
The Red Sox and Pirates will make up the final game of their series next Thursday, with a 2:05 pm start at Fenway Park.
With a 100 percent chance of precipitation according to the National Weather Forecast, the chances of the two teams playing today were never good. Before Fenway could even up their clubhouse doors, the game was called and rescheduled. While waiting another day to see the Red Sox play might be annoying to us, it actually bodes well for the team.
Firstly, it buys them time to get some key players healthy. A serious flu-bug has been wreaking havoc on their clubhouse for a little more than a week now and was enough to keep Mookie Betts, Brock Holt, and Robbie Ross Jr. out of the lineup in yesterday’s game. The Red Sox were able to pull off the victory anyways, due to Chris Sale‘s stellar debut and Sandy Leon‘s walk-off home run.
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Eduardo Rodriguez was expected to start today, but will likely have his start moved to Saturday. Manager John Farrell hinted on Wednesday that Steven Wright would remain the starter on Friday if today’s game were to be postponed. If things play out that way, the club would break up the two right-handed starters in the rotation (Wright and Porcello). The cancellation also gives the Red Sox more time to handle Drew Pomeranz‘s DL stint.
With a four-man rotation, Pomeranz wasn’t needed back from the 10-day DL until Sunday’s game against the Tigers if the club were to give Porcello and Sale their five days of rest. Thanks to the rainout, he’ll have until Tuesday to recover from elbow tightness that pushed back his Spring Training starts.
These are the next scheduled starts for the Red Sox’ starting pitchers after the postponement.
Steven Wright: Friday @ Detroit
Eduardo Rodriguez: Saturday @ Detroit
Rick Porcello: Sunday @ Detroit
Chris Sale: Monday @ Detroit
Drew Pomeranz: Tuesday vs Baltimore
Next: Three final thoughts on last night's walk off victory
The re-ordered rotation will also give Eduardo Rodriguez his shot at the Pirates lineup during their rescheduled game on Thursday.