Red Sox 07 Game 37

Monday, May 14                      Fenway Park  7:05 PM ET  

Nate Robertson, LHP (3-2, 3.43) Tigers (23-13) @ Daisuke Matsuzaka, RHP (4-2, 4.80) Red Sox (25-11)

AL East Standings

Team	W	L	GB	L 10	Exp W	Exp L
Boston	25	11	- -	8-2	25	11
Baltimore	18	20	8.0	6-4	18	20
New York	17	19	8.0	5-5	20	16
Tampa Bay	15	22	10.5	3-7	13	24
Toronto	15	22	10.5	2-8	17	20

ESPN.Com preview should be here.
Yahoo's preview should be here.

The recap after the game will be here.

From MLB.Com Scouting Report

Tigers: His start against the Mariners on Wednesday was Robertson's worst of the season. He was unable to make it out of the fifth inning, allowing six runs on 10 hits in a 9-2 loss. He retired nine of the first 10 batters he faced but struggled with his command in the fourth and fifth innings. He didn't walk anyone, but he left too many balls up in the zone, leading to his earliest exit this year. Now, Roberston has to begin a four-game series against the Red Sox, a team that has scored 24 runs in 29 1/3 innings against him in his career.

Red Sox: Matsuzaka was able to exhale after breaking out of a three-start slump with an impressive victory against the Blue Jays on Wednesday. He allowed five hits and a run over seven innings while notching eight strikeouts. This is the first career appearance against the Tigers for Dice-K. In three starts at Fenway, Matsuzaka is 1-1 with a 7.58 ERA. Overall, he has 47 strikeouts in 45 innings. Opponenets are hitting .234 against him.

As usual all statistics were found at the day by day database at Baseball Musings and this year at Baseball Reference.

Expected Batters vs opposing starter

Player	AB	Hits	2b	3b	HR's	RBI	BB's	K's	BA
J. Lugo	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.333
K. Youkilis	10	4	0	0	2	4	2	1	.400
D. Ortiz	14	1	0	0	0	1	1	5	.071
M. Ramirez	9	2	0	0	0	1	3	1	.222
J.D. Drew	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---
M. Lowell	5	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	.167
J. Varitek	6	2	1	0	1	3	0	1	.333
C. Crisp	25	7	1	0	2	3	3	3	.280
D. Pedroia	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---
Totals	72	17	2	0	5	12	10	11	.236

You may see Wily Mo since he does have some history vs Robertson, but I really doubt it. I think Francona will go with defense tonight. As far as previous history vs Robertson, not a lot of success. Still you have to like the fact that they have hit him hard except for Manny and Big Papi.

Historical Pitching line

Pitcher	GS	W	L	Sho	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA
Robertson	5	1	2	0	29 1/3	34	22	4	14	19	6.75
Matsuzuka	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---

Robertson is 1 and 1 in Fenway, with his win coming last year on 8/14. His ERA at Fenway is horrible though as he has given up 11 earned runs in 11 2/3 innings. Look for the bats to come out smoking tonight. This should be a mis match of epic proportions. Sox are also 6 and 3 vs left handers this year.

Chow!