Red Sox vs Philadelphia Phillies Series Preview: Home-and-home
The Boston Red Sox take on the Philadelphia Phillies in a four-game set split between Fenway Park and Citizens Bank Park.
The Boston Red Sox (34-28) take on the Philadelphia Phillies (21-40) in a rare home-and-home series. The first two games will take place at Fenway Park before the series shifts to Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia for two more.
Boston enters the day four games behind the New York Yankees in the AL East after taking two out of three from the Detroit Tigers over the weekend. Their 19-11 record at Fenway gives them the third highest home winning percentage in the league but they have dipped below .500 on the road at 15-17.
Philadelphia has lost five straight and remain in the basement of the NL East. The Philies have played passable baseball at home, where they are 12-14 this season. However, their 9-26 road record is the worst in the majors. Only the San Diego Padres have a worse run differential than Philadelphia’s -79.
With the Yankees embarking on a seven-game west coast road trip, a series against the lowly Phillies provides the Red Sox with an excellent opportunity to gain some ground in the division. Boston has been doing a great job of putting away bad teams this season and this series should be no exception.
Pitching Matchups
Monday, June 12 at 7:10 PM – Rick Porcello (3-8, 4.46 ERA) vs Jerad Eickhoff (0-7, 5.15 ERA)
Tuesday, June 13 at 7:10 PM – David Price (1-1, 5.29 ERA) vs Ben Lively (1-1, 2.57 ERA)
Wednesday, June 14 at 7:05 PM – Brian Johnson (2-0, 3.44 ERA) vs Jeremy Hellickson (5-4, 4.50 ERA)
Thursday, June 15 at 7:05 PM – Chris Sale (8-2, 2.97 ERA) vs Nick Pivetta (1-3, 5.52 ERA)
Lineups
Expected lineups for both teams in the series opener. May be subject to change on a game-to-game basis.
Boston Red Sox
Philadelphia Phillies
Series Notes
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- This series marks the return of inter-league play to Fenway Park. Boston opened the season hosting the Pittsburgh Pirates and wrapped up the month of April with the Chicago Cubs coming to town. A National League team hasn’t come to Fenway since. Boston is 5-1 at home against the NL this season. They are also 3-2 on the road in NL ballparks.
- Boston’s bullpen enters the series third in the AL with a 3.10 ERA. One of the keys to their success it that they’ve pitched the fewest innings at 186 this season. Having starters capable of logging heavy innings helps reduce the workload on the relievers to keep them fresh. It also prevents them from needing to rely on the weaker options in the bullpen in meaningful spots.
- The Red Sox still aren’t piling up home runs, yet they remain a top-five offense based in large part to their success with runners in scoring position. Boston’s lineup is hitting .284 with an .819 OPS with RISP, both of which rank third in the league. They also have 30 doubles in those situations, putting them behind only Detroit in the AL.
- Philadelphia’s Jerad Eickhoff is the only major league pitcher to make at least 12 starts and remain without a win this season. Every other pitcher to make at least 12 starts has at least two wins. It’s no surprise then to find that Eickhoff has received abysmal run support. He’s done himself no favors by pitching poorly but his offense has been no help, providing the second lowest run support at 2.83 per game.
- Right around the same time these teams take the field for Monday night’s game, the MLB Draft will also begin. Click here for details on where the Red Sox will be making their selections!
Key Hitters
Boston Red Sox: Jackie Bradley
2017 Season (45 Games): .240/.337/.448, 8 home runs, 27 RBI
Career vs Phillies (5 Games): .385/.429/.846, 1 home run, 5 RBI
The streaky Bradley is heating up again, hitting .324 in June with two homers and a team-high nine RBI. He’s hit safely in eight of ten games this month, including three multi-hit games.
As great as JBJ has been at the plate lately, he continues to be even better in the field. His 8 defensive runs saved ranks sixth in the league among outfielders and he’s only committed one error. He also makes insane diving catches like this one.
Jackie Bradley with a highlight worthy catch to keep Detroit off the scoreboard. #RedSox pic.twitter.com/PrITStM3FQ
— Sean Penney (@spenney83) June 10, 2017
Philadelphia Phillies: Odubel Herrera
2017 Season (59 Games): .257/.295/.422, 5 home runs, 25 RBI
Career vs Red Sox (6 Games): .412/.474/.647, 1 home run, 3 RBI
It’s slim pickings looking for a hitter to profile in a Phillies lineup that ranks 27th in the majors in runs scored. Herrera has regressed from his breakout year in 2016, although he’s caught fire lately to push his numbers to a more respectable level.
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Herrera is hitting .459 with a 1.393 OPS, 2 home runs and 11 RBI over 37 at-bats in June. It’s not quite enough to offset a horrendous May where he hit .183 and drew only one walk the entire month but he’s at least trending in the right direction.