game 58 - Rangers game 5

As usual all statistics were found at the day by day database at Baseball Musings.

The Sox finally win one in the Bronx making everyone in Red Sox Nation sleep easier. Tonight it is Wakefield vs Padilla. Well I have some good news and some bad news. First the good news is this is the last time we face the Rangers this year, and this is the first of 4 games at Fenway. Now, the bad, the rain out means that Wake will go against the Rangers, a team that has his number.

In his career Wake is 7 and 11 against the rangers in 20 starts. His ERA as a starter is 6.31. At home he is 3 and 3 with a 7.46 ERA. These are not numbers that fill me with joy and happiness. Looking closely you only see 3 quality starts against the Rangers at home. He also has lost 2 straight to the Rangers including his start this year, and is 1 and 3 in his last 4 starts against this team.

Now for the good news, Padilla has made two starts against Boston, one as a Philly (a loss), and this year in Texas. You may remember that game, it was the one where Wakefield got pummeled. His ERA for both of those starts is 6.23. This year however he pitched 6 innings giving up only 1 run on 2 walks and 4 hits. On paper you would have to give the edge to the Rangers.

I think the Sox will win tonight for the simple reason that this is a game at home. They made a good comeback last night against the Yankees and I fully expect that to give them some momentum. Also, Wakefield (considering he has made 1 less start) has been pitching as well as Schilling, he just doesn’t have the wins to go with that pitching. Tonight, that changes.

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