Red Sox 07 Game 100

			@
D. Matsuzaka		11-7, 3.99		C.C. Sabathia		13-4, 3.81
Red Sox		60-39		Indians		58-42

Tuesday, July 24    Jacobs Field ♊  7:05 PM ET

American League

East	W	L	GB	L 10	X W	X L
Boston	60	39	-	6-4	61	38
New York	52	46	7.5	8-2	59	39
Toronto	49	50	11.0	5-5	51	48
Baltimore	44	53	15.0	6-4	48	49
Tampa	38	60	21.5	4-6	37	61

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From MLB.Com Scouting Report

Red Sox: On the heels of a brilliant, six-start stretch, Matsuzaka has struggled over his past three starts. He's been unable to go more than six innings in any of the outings, giving up 13 runs and 22 hits over 16 frames. In his last start, he went five-plus innings and walked six while allowing three runs in a loss to the White Sox. This is Matsuzaka's second start against the Indians, but first at Jacobs Field. On May 30 at Fenway, the Indians belted Matsuzaka around for 12 hits and six runs over 5 2/3 innings.

Indians: Sabathia gave up four runs (three earned) in six innings Thursday against the Rangers in Arlington, pitching just well enough to end a two-start losing streak. He will be facing Boston for the first time this season, and he is 2-3 with a 4.35 ERA in six career starts against the Red Sox.

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

Sox Batting vs Sabathia.

Player	AB	H	2b	3b	HR's	RBI	BB's	K's	BA
J. Lugo	15	4	1	0	1	2	2	1	.267
D. Pedroia	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
K. Youkilis	4	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	.250
M. Ramirez	18	10	3	0	4	7	1	2	.556
J. D. Drew	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
M. Lowell	4	1	0	0	0	0	0	3	.250
J. Varitek	7	1	0	0	1	3	1	2	.143
W. Pena	9	3	0	0	0	1	0	1	.333
C. Crisp	3	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	.667
Totals	60	22	4	0	6	13	4	11	.367

Led by Manny's .556 average against C.C. this team should hit this guy and hit him hard. 1 home run every 10 at bats helps also. Look for J.D. to struggle, but he will not be replaced by Wily Mo since Ortiz is out and WMP will probably be playing left field while Manny DH's.

Pitching Comparisions

Pitcher	GS	W	L	Sho	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP	IP/GS
Matsuzaka	1	0	1	0	5 2/3	12	6	1	0	4	9.53	2.12	5.67
Sabathia	6	2	3	0	41 1/3	46	20	8	8	28	4.35	1.31	6.89

Daisuke faced Cleveland on 5/30, a game the Sox lost 8-4 to Paul Byrd. To say that Matsuzaka struggled in that game would be an understatement. Look for improvement from Daisuke.

C.C. is having a wonderful year but the Sox have always done well against this pitcher. With Coco and Manny both torching the ball, look for the team to continue their hot hitting tonight.

Later - When all else fails, get a bigger hammer!