Red Sox 07 Game 105
 | @ |  | |||||
| D. Matsuzaka | 12-7, 3.79 | S. Kazmir | 7-7, 4.02 | ||||
| Red Sox | 64-40 | Devil Rays | 38-65 | ||||
Sunday, July 29 Tropicana Field ✠ 1:40 PM ET
American League
| East | W | L | GB | L 10 | X W | X L |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boston | 64 | 40 | - | 8-2 | 65 | 39 |
| New York | 55 | 49 | 9.0 | 6-4 | 62 | 42 |
| Toronto | 51 | 52 | 12.5 | 6-4 | 54 | 49 |
| Baltimore | 49 | 54 | 14.5 | 8-2 | 53 | 50 |
| Tampa | 38 | 64 | 25.5 | 1-9 | 38 | 65 |
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From MLB.Com Scouting Report
Red Sox: Matsuzaka broke out of a three-start slump by pitching a masterpiece in his last start against Cleveland. Matsuzaka fired seven shutout innings and allowed three hits while lifting the Red Sox to a 1-0 win over C.C. Sabathia and the Indians. This is Matsuzaka's second start against the Devil Rays. On July 3, he earned the win by striking out nine over eight shutout innings.
Devil Rays: Kazmir gave the Rays his third consecutive quality start Tuesday night against the Orioles, but unfortunately the performance came on a night when his teammates managed just two hits against O's pitching and the Rays lefty took his seventh defeat of the season. Kazmir's stuff continues to be electric and he's found a comfort zone, which has translated to lower pitch counts in his past two starts. Kazmir is 5-3 with a 2.76 ERA in 12 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 Kazmir
| Player | AB | H | 2b | 3b | HR's | RBI | BB's | K's | BA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| J. Lugo | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | .500 |
| K. Youkilis | 15 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 6 | .133 |
| D. Ortiz | 29 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 9 | .172 |
| M. Ramirez | 31 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 10 | .129 |
| J. D. Drew | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| M. Lowell | 13 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | .308 |
| J. Varitek | 17 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 5 | .235 |
| D. Pedroia | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .333 |
| C. Crisp | 13 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .308 |
| Totals | 123 | 25 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 11 | 17 | 36 | .203 |
The entire team bats .205, with Manny, and Youkilis leading in Suckitude vs this guy. The good news is that when they get a hit, 1/3 of them are for extra bases! Still, those who do hit him have good success while those who don't really, really suck! I expect this to be a nip and tuck game so nibbler has to be on his best game.
Oh, yeah don't be surprised to see Mirabelli playing since its a day game after night game and he also hits Kazmir better than Tek (2 for 7 with a double and 2 BB). Wily Mo is only 1 for 10 so I would be surprised to see him in the game.
Pitching Comparisions
| Pitcher | GS | W | L | Sho | IP | H | ER | HR | BB | K | ERA | WHIP | IP/GS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Matsuzaka | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 0.00 | .625 | 8.0 |
| Kazmir | 12 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 71 2/3 | 54 | 22 | 5 | 34 | 75 | 2.76 | 1.23 | 5.97 |
Matsuzaka faced this team on 7/3 this year winning four to one. In fact his opposing starter was Kazmir. That was a very good game and was easily one of Daisukes better outings. Let us hope for a repeat today!
Kazmir has had great success vs the Sox. Mainly it is by controlling Manny and David and keeping his walk total down while having a K/9 of 9.42. In those twelve starts six of the games have been quality starts and in nine of those starts he has held the Sox to three runs or less. Pretty good pitching for the kid. The good news is that he has lost two of his last three starts vs Boston, so the Sox bats appear to be getting used to his deliver and maybe solving their problems vs this left handed pitcher. Look for a well pitched game with the team making the fewest mistakes winning this duel today!
♊ - When all else fails, get a bigger hammer!
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