Red Sox 07 Game 44

Monday, May 21      Yankee Stadium  7:05 PM ET  

Tim Wakefield, RHP (4-4, 2.41)
Red Sox (30-13)

          @

Chien-Ming Wang, RHP (2-3,4.54)
Yankees (19-23)

AL East Standings

Team	W	L	GB	L 10	X W	X L
Boston	30	13	-	7-3	29	14
Baltimore	20	24	10.5	4-6	21	23
New York	19	23	10.5	3-7	23	19
Toronto	19	24	11	6-4	21	22
Tampa Bay	18	25	12	4-6	16	27

ESPN.Com preview should be here.
Yahoo's preview should be here.
The recap after the game will be here.
Almost guarantee there will be a press pass today and it should be here.
From MLB.Com Scouting Report

Yankees: New York considered starting Wang against the Mets on Sunday, but that changed after the right-hander threw 91 pitches against the White Sox last Wednesday in an 8-1 winning effort. Wang pitched seven strong innings, limiting Chicago to six hits and one earned run while securing a split of a day-night doubleheader at U.S. Cellular Field. Wang gave up four runs in six innings in his last start against the Red Sox. He surrendered two homers, struck out one and walked three.

Red Sox: Save for two knucklers that didn't knuckle -- to Detroit's Brandon Inge and Magglio Ordonez, who hit long fourth-inning home runs at Fenway Park on Tuesday -- Wakefield was relatively effective in his last start against the Tigers, the Majors' third-best run-scoring team. This is Wakefield's second appearance of the year at Yankee Stadium. On April 28, Wakefield took the loss to New York, giving up five hits and three runs over 5 1/3 innings while walking six.

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	21	6	1	0	0	0	4	3	.286
K. Youkilis	11	4	1	0	0	1	5	0	.364
D. Ortiz	20	9	2	0	2	6	3	2	.450
M. Ramirez	16	10	0	0	2	5	4	2	.625
J.D. Drew	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
M. Lowell	15	3	1	0	0	0	3	0	.200
D. Mirabelli	4	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	.250
C. Crisp	12	3	0	1	0	0	0	2	.250
D. Pedroia	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Totals	99	36	5	1	4	13	19	9	.364

As you can see the Sox have pretty good numbers vs Wang. I would not be surprised to see Alex Cora start (4 for 13 with 1 home run) or Eric Hinske (10 for 19 with 4 doubles, 2 home runs and 1 walk). As we have seen this year, Tito is not afraid to put in players who have good numbers vs the starting pitcher.

So my guess is we will see Cora at 2nd and Hinske in Right.

Historical Pitching line

Pitcher	GS	W	L	Sho	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA
Wakefield	26	9	14	0	193 1/3	166	99	33	99	131	4.61
Wang	7	2	4	0	46 1/3	55	26	6	22	15	5.05

Just looking at those numbers you would have to like our chances against Wang. However, in the Bronx these are two very different pitchers. Here are their lines at the Bronx:

Historical Pitching line in the Bronx

Pitcher	GS	W	L	Sho	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA
Wakefield	12	5	5	0	73	53	29	9	47	53	3.58
Wang	3	1	2	0	22 2/3	29	10	3	7	8	3.97

Both pitchers have very good numbers in the Bronx and have probably pitched better than their records indicate. Should be an exciting game.

One other thing, Wakefields WHIP in the Bronx 1.37 and Wang's is 1.59
Chow!

Red Sox 07 Game 43 Recap

Final

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Atlanta	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	1		3	13	0
Boston	4	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	X		6	9	0

W: K. Gabbard (1-0, 3.60); L: T. Hudson (5-2, 2.42)
HR: BOS: K. Youkilis (6).

• Hero - Kason Gabbard and Jason Varitek
• Goat - Tim Hudson

Idle thoughts

Well, as I said in the preview, the Sox own Hudson, so I am not surprised by the shellacking that the sox put on him in the first inning.

Varitek this year is now 2 for 9 in bases loaded situations. Both hits came in this homestand a double on mothers day and the triple today. Way to go captain.

K Gabbard surprised me, I really thought that last year was kind of a fluke for him, but he seems to have the goods. If he continues on this path I can see next years rotation being Beckett, Lester, Matsuzaka, Gabbard and Wakefield. Give me two good left handers in the rotation and you stand a real good chance in the AL East.

Youkilis is smoking hot! I have a dream, Lugo and Youkilis setting the plate in the Bronx and Big Papi, Manny and Drew bringing them home.

Red Sox 07 Game 43

Sunday, May 20         Fenway Park  7:05 PM ET
Tim Hudson, RHP (5-1, 1.77) Braves (25-17)

      @

Kason Gabbard, LHP (0-0, -.--) Red Sox (29-12)

AL East Standings

Team	W	L	GB	L 10	X W	X L
Boston	29	13	-	7-3	28	14
Baltimore	20	23	9.5	5-5	20	23
Toronto	19	23	10	6-4	21	21
New York	18	23	10.5	3-7	23	18
Tampa Bay	18	24	11	4-6	16	26

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

Braves: During five of his nine starts, Hudson has carried a no-hit bid into the fifth inning. The latest occasion came Tuesday, when he limited the Nationals to one run in seven innings and won his second straight start. He has allowed two earned runs or less six times this year and has worked at least seven innings on eight occasions. He is 3-7 with a 5.80 ERA in 10 career starts against the Red Sox.

Red Sox: With a rainout on Wednesday and the finger injury of Josh Beckett leaving the rotation in a state of flux, Boston is undecided as to whom will start Sunday. It was supposed to be Tim Wakefield, but the Sox opted to hold him out for the opener of a three-game series in New York the next day. The leading candidate for Sunday's finale against the Braves is left-hander Kason Gabbard, who was scheduled to pitch on that same day for Triple-A Pawtucket. Gabbard is 3-1 with a 2.75 ERA in eight starts.

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	10	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	.000
K. Youkilis	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
D. Ortiz	28	8	3	0	1	4	1	9	.286
M. Ramirez	29	8	2	1	0	4	3	7	.276
J.D. Drew	8	2	1	0	0	1	0	0	.250
M. Lowell	11	3	0	0	0	1	1	1	.273
J. Varitek	19	7	3	0	1	6	3	7	.368
C. Crisp	10	3	1	0	0	0	1	2	.300
A. Cora	6	2	1	0	0	0	1	1	.333
Totals	122	33	11	1	2	16	10	30	.270

As you can see there is some good history here. Varitek leads the way, but Manny, Ortiz, Lowell and Crisp all have good success against this right hander. My prediction is he won't go 5 innings of no hit ball today. Look for the bats to come out smoking.

Since Gabbard has no history against the Braves I thought I would show Hudson's combined and at Fenway history.

Historical Pitching line

Pitcher	GS	W	L	Sho	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA
Hudson (c)	10	3	7	1	59	59	38	6	33	42	5.8
Hudson (fen)	5	1	4	0	25	33	22	3	21	16	7.92

As you can see, the Sox are a lot more patient with Hudson when they are at Fenway. His WHIP at Fenway is a non-sparkling 2.16. This is very good for the Sox.

Chow!!!!!!!

Red Sox 07 Game 42 Recap

Final

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Atlanta	1	1	0	2	2	2	3	0	3		14	18	0
Boston	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0		0	3	2

W: J. Smoltz (6-2, 2.85); L: D. Hansack (0-1, 7.71)
HR: ATL: C. Jones (12), K. Johnson (6), M. Diaz (3).

• Hero - John Smoltz (he can pitch for me any day of the week)
  
• Goat - D Hansack - Send him back down to the minors and don't bring him back up.
  

Idle thoughts

Its a good thing the Sox won the first game, because you knew that this one was not going to go the Sox way when Coco was sitting at 2nd base with one out in the first inning and Ortiz (walk), Ramirez (K - at least he swung at the ball) and Hinske failed to get him home to tie the game. 25 pitches for Smoltz in the first and that was as close as the Sox would get the rest of the game.

Still all in all, I will take the split. As I said in the preview, Smoltz owns the Sox so I am not surprised by this outcome. Tomorrow is another day and at least the Sox have faced Hudson. The good news is that the spankees lost at Shea and so they fall further back.

Chow!

Red Sox 07 Game 42

AL East Standings

Team	W	L	GB	L 10	X W	X L
Boston	29	12	-	8-2	29	12
Baltimore	19	23	10.5	5-5	20	22
New York	18	22	10.5	4-6	22	18
Tampa Bay	18	23	11	4-6	16	25
Toronto	18	23	11	5-5	19	22

Standings are as of 5:51 pm edt. Presently only the spankees are playing an are losing 7 to 2. If Sox win tonight and the spankees continue to lose then Sox will be up 11.5 games over the spankees.

The game 41 post has the MLB.com previews, links and breakdowns. Smoltzie is dominant against the Sox. So I am not counting my chickens about another sweep yet. Plus its Hansack on the mound. Still a sweep would be sweeet!!!

MLB.com press pass is here.

Red Sox 07 Game 41 Recap

Final

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Atlanta	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0		3	10	1
Boston	1	2	0	0	4	5	1	0	x		13	18	0

MLB.Com Press Pass for this game is here.
W: D. Matsuzaka (6-2, 4.06); L: A. Lerew (0-2, 7.71)
HR: ATL: J. Francoeur (7). BOS: M. Lowell (8), K. Youkilis (5), J. Lugo (3), W. Pena (3).

• Hero - Mike Lowell, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Julio Lugo, Big Papi? Take your pick, this game was a slaughter and myself, I think I will go with Youkilis. His two run bomb basically ended the start of Lerew.
• Goat - The Atlanta staff (see above).

Idle thoughts

Daisuke was basically cruising most of this game. 18 pitches after 2 innings, 27 after 3 innings, 43 after 4 innings, 56 after 5 innings and 67 after 6 innings.

How hot is Lowell? In the last 7 days, 5 games with a .412 BA. That was before today's 4 for 5.

Ortiz, Manny, Drew and Lowell were a combined 10 for 15 today with 7 runs and 5 rbi's. Thats a .667 average.

Lugo, Crisp and Pedroia were 5 for 13 with 4 runs and 5 rbi's for a .385 average.

Right now in the bottom of the 2nd its Mets 4 and MFY 2 with 2 outs. If this holds up Sox would have an 11 game lead. Caught stealing costs the Mets another run as Beltran hits a bomb towards left that Matsui catches for the last out of the inning with a man on third.

Red Sox 07 Game 41

Game 1 - Saturday, May 19    Fenway Park   1:05 PM ET

ATL Anthony Lerew, RHP (0-1, 6.52) Braves (25-16)
@
BOS Daisuke Matsuzaka, RHP (5-2, 4.17) Red Sox (28-12)

Game 2 - Saturday, May 19    Fenway Park   7:35 PM ET

ATL  John Smoltz, RHP (5-2, 3.19) Braves (25-16)
@
BOS Devern Hansack, RHP (0-0, 13.50) Red Sox (28-12)

AL East Standings

Team	W	L	GB	L 10	X W	X L
Boston	28	12	-	8-2	28	12
Baltimore	19	23	10	5-5	20	22
New York	18	22	10	4-6	22	18
Tampa Bay	18	23	10.5	4-6	16	25
Toronto	18	23	10.5	5-5	19	22

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

The recap after game 1 will be here.
The recap after game 2 will be here.

From MLB.Com Scouting Report

GAME 1
Braves: Lerew threw 38 of his 74 pitches for strikes and allowed five earned runs in just 3 2/3 innings against the Pirates on Sunday afternoon. The easily excitable right-hander will have to handle his emotions while pitching in front of a packed house at Fenway Park. His first Major League start came last Tuesday, when he limited the Padres to two runs over six innings. If he's able to consistently get ahead in the count, his sinker can be a valuable weapon.

Red Sox: Well, Red Sox fans may finally know what they've got with Matsuzaka, Boston's prized free-agent acquisition of the offseason. The answer might surprise: He's more BMW than Corvette -- a model of efficiency and a strike-throwing machine. That is, if things continue to work out. In his past two starts, Matsuzaka has thrown 16 innings, allowing just two runs, 11 hits and three walks.

GAME 2
Braves: Smoltz suffered a dislocated right pinky finger in Monday night's loss to the Nationals. But he still hopes to make Saturday's start against a Red Sox team that he's found success against in the past. In nine career appearances against them, he's worked 24 2/3 innings and allowed just three earned runs. Each of those were accounted for last year when he provided a strong seven-inning effort against them. Before Monday's loss, he had won four straight decisions and three straight starts.

Red Sox: Hansack is making the start in place of undefeated righty Josh Beckett, who was placed on the DL with a skin tear on his right middle finger. Hansack impressed the Red Sox last season after a September callup, pitching five-inning's of no-hit ball in the rain-shortened finale of the regular season. Moving Beckett to the DL enabled Boston to put Hansack back on the roster. Hansack was just sent back to Triple-A Pawtucket on May 11, and he would have had to be in the Minor Leagues for at least 10 days under normal circumstances.

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

The Game 1 starter Lerew has only faced 1 player for the Red Sox. That was Mike Lowell who went 0-1.

Expected Batters vs opposing starter John Smoltz

Player	AB	Hits	2b	3b	HR's	RBI	BB's	K's	BA
J. Lugo	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.500
K. Youkilis	7	2	0	0	0	1	0	3	.286
D. Ortiz	4	2	0	0	1	1	2	0	.500
M. Ramirez	5	2	0	0	1	1	1	1	.400
J.D. Drew	10	2	0	0	1	2	1	1	.200
M. Lowell	21	5	1	0	0	1	0	4	.238
J. Varitek	9	3	0	0	0	0	0	1	.333
C. Crisp	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.000
D. Pedroia	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---
Totals	61	17	1	0	3	6	4	11	.279

Don't be surprised if Cora is in the line up against Smoltz. Since he is 2 for 3 against him. Substitute Cora for Pedroia and the Sox are batting .297 against Smoltz.

Smoltz has a a pretty good record against the Sox. Since he is the only pitcher of the four scheduled to start with any type of history against either team I have broken down his history as a Starter and Relief Pitcher.

Historical Pitching line

Pitcher	GS	W	L	Sho	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA
Starts	3	1	0	0	18 2/3	19	3	2	8	21	1.45
Relief	0	0	0	0	6	2	0	0	2	6	0.00
Combined	3	1	0	0	24 2/3	21	3	2	10	27	1.09

As you can see, he has been lights out vs the Sox. At Boston he has pitched 11 2/3 of an inning and has allowed no earned runs. A very tough opponent for the Sox.

IDLE THOUGHTS

In the first game I fully expect Wily Mo and Eric Hinske to play. Will be interesting to see who plays and where. My guess is that Manny will get the early game off, especially since he hits Smoltz well.

In the second game I expect the normal line up, though it would not surprise me if Wily Mo plays center field. Of course if Theo was smart he would play J.D. Drew in Center and play Eric Hinske in right. That would add one more lefty which could be huge since Left Handed Batters are batting .283/.359/.449 against him.

Red Sox 07 Games 39 & 40 Recaps

Final game 39

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Detroit	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0		1	4	1
Boston	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	X		2	6	0

W: J. Tavarez (2-4, 5.59); L: Z. Miner (0-1, 1.69); SV: J. Papelbon (11)
HR: None.

• Hero - Julian Tavarez
• Goat - Guillen for his error on Lugo

Idle thoughts

What you like to see in the first inning vs a young pitcher. Coco got on and on Ortiz's hit he stayed out of the double play by avoiding the tag. Since the shift was on third base was empty and Coco just kept on going to third. Not only was the pitcher victimized but the shift was penalized.

Tavarez - 55 through 4 and then struggles in the 5th throwing 30 while giving up a run.
In the sixth and seventh he throws like 16 pitches combined. Sexy Lips earns his pay.

Hero in the Dark continues his dominance. Faces the heart of the Detroit line up and allows no hits or runs. By far the best free agent signing of Theo's career.

Papel-Bot was just that, a bot in striking out two and earning the save on thirteen pitches.

Game 40 Final

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Detroit	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0		2	9	1
Boston	1	0	0	0	0	1	2	0	X		4	6	0

W: B. Donnelly (2-1, 2.31); L: W. Ledezma (3-1, 5.14); SV: H. Okajima (2)
HR: DET: B. Inge (7). BOS: E. Hinske (1).

• Hero - Eric Hinske
• Goat - Ledezema

Idle thoughts

Schilling struggles from the first pitch to the last of his 114 pitches. 53 pitches after two innings, 8 hits allowed all extra base. It was amazing that he only allowed two runs.
Donnelly looked good going 1 1/3 of 1 hit ball with two K's to earn the win. Followed by Lopez and Hero in the Dark pitching 1 2/3 's of no hit ball.

Eric Hinske made the catch of the year, robbing Rabelo of an rbi double in the 5th. Of course that just set up the game winning home run that he hit in the seventh.

The Sox took 3 out of 4 against the Tigers. Another series win and the Sox remain perfect on Thursdays.

Chow!

Red Sox 07 Game 40

Thursday, May 17    Fenway Park  7:05 PM ET

Update: Repaired broken links. God I hate double headers.
UPDATE II: MLB.com Press Pass is here.
Chad Durbin, RHP (3-1, 5.08) Tigers (24-14) @ Curt Schilling, RHP (4-1, 3.63) Red Sox (26-12)
Note: Team records are at 6:00 am on 5/17/2007. Game 39 preview is located here.

AL East Standings

Team	W	L	GB	L 10	X W	X L
Boston	26	12	-	7-3	27	11
New York	18	20	8.0	5-5	22	16
Toronto	18	22	9	5-5	18	22
Baltimore	18	23	9.5	4-6	19	22
Tampa	17	22	9.5	4-6	14	25

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: Durbin is 3-0 with a 2.13 ERA in his last four starts, the latest being a win last Saturday at the Metrodome in which he held the Twins scoreless until a two-run sixth. By working ahead in counts with regularity, he has forced opposing batters to hit his two-strike pitch, often a sharp sinker for ground ball outs.

Red Sox: Schilling was on his way to another quiet gem in his last outing, backed by a fifth-inning rally and a 4-1 cushion on Saturday against the Orioles when he ran into trouble. After allowing four singles and a walk, he left the game with a no-decision and four earned runs in 5 1/3 innings. He gave up nine hits during that time. It was the first time Schilling was unable to register a quality start since April 20 against the Yankees, and his third this season.

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	1	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	1.000
K. Youkilis	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---
D. Ortiz	3	0	0	0	0	0	2	1	.000
M. Ramirez	2	1	0	0	1	4	2	0	.500
J.D. Drew	4	2	0	0	0	1	0	0	.500
M. Lowell	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---
J. Varitek	3	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	.333
C. Crisp	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---
D. Pedroia	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---
Totals	13	5	0	0	1	6	6	2	.385

Small sample size here, but they have had good results against Durbin with the bats. I would not be surprised to see Mirabelli in this game or the first game. Also look for who didn't play in the first game today to play tonight. Tito might even give Manny a game off.

Historical Pitching line

Pitcher	GS	W	L	Sho	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA
Durbin	2	1	0	0	7 2/3	7	8	2	10	7	9.39
Schilling	4	1	3	0	28	39	16	3	2	36	5.14

Durbin's only win came while he was a member of the Indians in May of 2004. That was in a relief role. His two starts saw him go 1 inning and 4 innings, giving up 3 and 4 runs. Has he became a better pitcher in the last 3 years? I really don't think so, look for the bats to come out swinging.

As a Red Sox Curt has made two starts vs Tigers. He had a no decision in both of those starts. In 13 innings he struck out 12, walked none and has a 2.77 ERA. Both of those games came last year. One you might remember was the game that was won by Youkilis hitting a 9th inning 2 run homer to make a winner of Seanez. The other game was on Ben Affleck's birthday and was the game in which Polanco was injured.
Chow!

Red Sox 07 Game 39

Update: Added Press Pass Link.
Update II: Rain out rescheduled for Thursday, May 17 at 12:35 p.m. ET
UPDATE III: fixed the links for previews and recaps caused by the rain out on 5/16

 Wednesday, May 16      Fenway Park  7:05 PM ET  

Mike Maroth, LHP (3-0, 4.69) Tigers (24-14) @ Julian Tavarez, RHP (1-4, 6.60) Red Sox (26-12)

AL East Standings

Team	W	L	GB	L 10	X W	X L
Boston	26	12	-	7-3	26	12
New York	17	19	8.0	5-5	20	16
Baltimore	18	22	9.0	4-6	19	21
Toronto	17	22	9.5	4-6	18	21
Tampa Bay	16	22	10.0	3-7	14	24

ESPN.Com preview should be here.
Yahoo's preview should be here.
The recap after the game will be here.
MLB.com press pass is here.
From MLB.Com Scouting Report

Tigers: Detroit is 7-0 this season in Maroth's starts, and it's not just because the team seems to score runs in bunches on those days. Maroth out pitched Johan Santana in his start on Friday at Minnesota, with 6 2/3 innings of one-run ball, earning just his second career victory at the Metrodome. The only place where he has struggled more is Fenway Park, where he's 0-4 in four outings with an 8.02 ERA and six home runs allowed in 21 1/3 innings.

Red Sox: Tavarez took a big step back after hanging with Johan Santana in his previous start, allowing 10 hits and five runs in just five innings against the Orioles on Friday night. The Boston fifth starter was tagged with the loss, his fourth among just 11 total losses for the Sox. As the rest of the rotation continues to pitch among the best in baseball and Jon Lester continues his return from cancer, Tavarez will have to bounce back with a strong start if he plans to keep his rotation spot for the long term.

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	11	4	1	0	0	1	0	1	.364
K. Youkilis	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	.000
D. Ortiz	9	1	0	0	0	0	0	3	.111
M. Ramirez	18	8	0	0	0	2	2	3	.444
J.D. Drew	3	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	.000
M. Lowell	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---
J. Varitek	16	10	1	1	3	6	4	1	.625
C. Crisp	25	5	0	0	0	0	0	5	.200
D. Pedroia	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---
Totals	84	28	2	1	3	9	8	14	.333

Actually a pretty good history vs Maroth. Not for sure if Drew will play. He hit the wall in right pretty hard last night so he may be really stiff before this game. Hinske is 4 for 17 with 4 RBI's and 6 k's against Maroth. Pena has never faced Maroth but lefty vs lefty might eliminate Hinske. Cora has also never faced Maroth.

Historical Pitching line

Pitcher	GS	W	L	Sho	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA
Maroth	7	0	6	0	38 2/3	60	31	8	21	25	7.22
Tavarez	1	2	0	0	12 1/3	13	7	2	7	10	5.11

At Fenway Maroth's numbers are even worse. In four starts he is 0-4 in 21 1/3 IP, 35 hits, 19 Earned runs, 6 HR's, 9 BB, and 13 K's.

Julian has appeared in 9 games vs the Tigers. His only start was 6 years ago and he lasted 3 2/3 innings giving up 9 runs (3 earned). Not very good against this team. The question is which Tavarez will show up to pitch. The one who out dueled Santana and Halladay or the one who stunk up the place versus the Orioles and Texas.

Chow!

Red Sox 07 Game 38 Recap

Final

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Detroit	0	0	4	0	0	0	0	3	0		7	12	0
Boston	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0		2	8	0

W: J. Verlander (4-1, 2.76); L: T. Wakefield (4-4, 2.41)
HR: DET: M. Ordonez (8), B. Inge (6). BOS: K. Youkilis (4).

Hero - Magglio Ordonez
Goat - Hate to say it but it has to go to Tim Wakefield

Idle thoughts

Justin Verlander was wheeling and dealing after the first inning. Three singles in the first to allow a run and then it was one zero after another until Youkilis hit a home run in the bottom of the eighth. Of course by that time the game was pretty much out of reach.

For once this season the bullpen came in and was unable to keep the score close. After the first walk of the game from Wakefield to start the eighth, Donnelly came in to pitch. After retiring Ordonez and Guillen a rbi double by Rodriguez (lame throw by Manny), followed by a rbi single (even weaker throw by Manny) from Monroe, followed by a rbi single by Casey and it was 7 to 1. Thankfully, Snyder was able to strike out Inge, to end the inning.

I'm beginning to think that Manny is not going to get on a hot streak. After his first at bat he looked terrible at the plate and if Manny really cared he might do something different like slide into first base and be safe in the ninth!

Sox need to win the next two games to win this series. That is all I want them to do, just keep on winning series.

Tavarez tomorrow night vs Maroth.

Red Sox 07 Game 38

Tuesday, May 15                               Fenway Park  7:05 PM ET  

Justin Verlander, RHP (3-1, 2.83) Tigers (23-14) @ Tim Wakefield, RHP (4-3, 1.79) Red Sox (26-11)

AL East Standings

Team	W	L	GB	L 10	X W	X L
Boston	26	11	- -	8-2	26	11
New York	17	19	8.5	5-5	20	16
Baltimore	18	21	9.0	5-5	18	21
Toronto	16	22	10.5	3-7	17	21
Tampa Bay	15	22	11	3-7	13	24

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: Although Verlander is a power pitcher, he pitches well to contact, which was both good and bad in his last start against the Mariners. He walked just one over 5 1/3 innings in the Tigers' 7-3 win, but allowed nine hits, all of them singles. He got the win, but manager Jim Leyland would like to see him decrease his pitch count (he threw 98 against the Mariners) so he can pitch further into games. Verlander said he is trying to throw his change up more often to right-handers to prevent them from sitting on his 99-mph fastball.

Red Sox: The knuckleballer is on one of those red-hot streaks he's been known for over the years. In fact, Wakefield has not been scored on in 14 innings over his last two starts, which were both victories. In all seven of his starts, he's allowed three earned runs or less. This will be Wakefield's third start of the season at Fenway. Lifetime against the Tigers, Wakefield is 13-9 with a 4.41 ERA.

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	2	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	.500
K. Youkilis	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.333
D. Ortiz	1	1	0	0	1	2	2	0	1.000
M. Ramirez	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.000
J.D. Drew	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---
M. Lowell	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	.000
D. Mirabelli	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---
C. Crisp	6	3	1	0	0	2	0	1	.500
D. Pedroia	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---
Totals	16	6	1	0	1	4	5	1	.375

Small sample size so not sure what this tells you. Still a pretty good ratio of walks which could mean getting the starter out earlier. Cora has 2 walks in 5 plate appearances, but no hits, so would be surprised if he is in the line up tonight.

Historical Pitching line

Pitcher	GS	W	L	Sho	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA
Verlander	1	0	1	0	6	6	5	1	7	2	7.50
Wakefield	19	13	9	0	143	143	70	29	39	109	4.41

Mr. Wakefield has been a lot better in Fenway. 17 games - 10 starts - 84 2/3 IP - 81 hits and a 3.51 ERA. Verlander had the one start last year in Fenway, obviously the walks really hurt him.
Other idle thoughts -

1. If you look at Detroit's exp w and l's you see that they are at 20-17. Might be playing over their heads.
2. Tigers are 18 - 2 when scoring 5 or more runs, Sox are 20 and 0.
3. Magglio Ordonez is batting .433 against Wakefield, fourth best against Wakefield.
4. Tigers are 4 and 1 on Tuesday's while the Sox are 2 and 3.

Chow!

Update: corrected day and game numbers.

Red Sox 07 Game 37 Recap

Final

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Detroit	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0		1	6	0
Boston	0	0	1	1	1	0	0	4	X		7	15	1

W: D. Matsuzaka (5-2, 4.17); L: N. Robertson (3-3, 3.62)
HR: DET: C. Granderson (7).

• Hero - Daisuke Matsuzaka
• Goat - Nate Robertson

Idle thoughts

Once again Daisuke came out dealing, the first complete game for the Sox at home this year. His only real trouble came from a 2 out home run from Granderson. You have to love this kid.

The Bottom of the order really came through tonight as Varitek, Coco and Pedroia had two hits apiece (6 for 11) and seemed to be involved in every outburst all night.

Varitek and Coco both played a pivotal role in knocking out Robertson after 5 innings. In the fourth, after 9 pitches Robertson had two outs when Tek put together a 10 pitch AB (Ball, Strike (foul), Strike (swinging), Foul, Foul, Foul, Foul, Foul, Ball) that led to a double. Coco followed this up with a 9 pitch AB(Strike (swinging), Ball, Ball, Ball, Strike (foul), Foul, Foul, Foul) which ended in a single to center scoring Jason. You could almost see the energy drain out of Nate after those two AB's.

I was astonished when he came out in the 5th, but obviously Leyland felt that Nate would be able to handle 115 pitches. Will have to see if that affects his next outing.

A good game by the offense who tacked on 5 runs after Coco's RBI. The big hit being in the eighth by Julio Lugo, a 3 rbi triple off of Seay.

MLB.com's press pass is here.

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!

Red Sox 07 Game 36 Recap

Final

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Baltimore	2	0	0	0	1	0	1	1	0		5	8	2
Boston	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0		6	7	3

• Hero - The entire offense which sent 10 batters to the plate in the bottom of the 9th.
• Goat - C. Ray who blew another game against the Sox his third of the season.

As I was typing up this recap I originally had the hero as Jeremy Guthrie who was wheeling and dealing as the starting pitcher, 8 1/3 innings giving up only 3 hits and the 1 run (unearned) and J. Varitek as the goat due to his error in the first that led to two runs. Well, the ninth inning changed all that. What is that old saying about counting chickens? Any way, I decided to leave the post as it was originally written with any changes caused by the ninth being highlighted.

Idle thoughts

Josh Beckett only goes 4 innings today in getting his first loss of the year (oops his first no decision). Josh's problem was again in the first inning as he allowed a lead off walk to Roberts, quickly followed with a 1b by Markakis to become a 2 run inning (thanks in large part to the third error of the year by Varitek).

Beckett left due to an avulsion on his right middle finger. Avulsion, another fancy word for a tear in the skin. Hopefully this won't lead to any other long term problems. Post game every body during the news conference kept on stressing its a tear of the skin, not a blister.

Guthrie seems to be a find for the Orioles as he has now made two excellent starts in place of the injured Jaret Wright. Through seven innings he allowed 3 hits and no runs, throwing only 73 pitches. After eight innings he had the same hits and had thrown only 85 pitches. Two starts and two wins by the young rightie (oops a no decision as C Ray blows the game in the ninth).

The bull pen did an OK job as Snyder went 1 1/3 allowing one earned run (helped by his own errant throw on a pick off at second). Snyder was followed by J. Lopez who finished off the sixth inning with out allowing any other runs.

Pineiro struggled though allowing 4 hits, 2 BB's and 2 earned runs in 1 2/3 innings. His ERA is now a not so sparkling 4.40.

J Romero did OK with his 1 1/3 innings of 1 hit ball. This brings the bull pen total to 5 innings of work of six hit ball and 2 earned runs.

A little bit of excitement in the ninth as Guthrie got Lugo to ground out to short to start the inning. Then the O's made a crucial error on Crisp's pop up in the infield. That was the last of Guthrie and D Baez was summoned into the game. He lasted two batters as Ortiz smashed a double off the deep center field wall, just to the left of the camera stand scoring Crisp from first base. This was quickly followed by a single from Pena.

Ray then came into the game in the save situation and on 6 pitches he walked J.D. Drew. Bases loaded for one of the hottest players in the league, Kevin Youkilis who walked on a 3-2 count. Of course this brought up one of the worst batters in a bases loaded situation, J. Varitek (34 for 155) who on the first pitch hit a single to right advancing on the bobble by the fielders. 5 - 4 ball game.

IBB of Hinske, which will bring up the super sub of Alex Cora with the bases loaded who has an even worse average (8 of 54). Sure enough Cora failed hitting a ground ball to second that allowed Roberts to get the lead runner at home. It all rests on Lugo (23 of 76) who came through to win by hitting an infield single(?) no they scored it an error allowing Varitek and Hinske to score the tying and winning runs. Another series won by the Sox.

What a game.

As I was finishing up this post a quick check of the Yes network shows the spankees losing their second game in Seattle. Yankeeeeees LOOOOOOSE.

Red Sox 07 Game 36

Sunday, May 13                                Fenway Park |  2:05 PM ET

Jeremy Guthrie, RHP (2-1, 4.64) Orioles (18-19) @ BOS Josh Beckett, RHP (7-0, 2.51) Red Sox (24-11)
AL East Standings

Team	W	L	GB	L 10	X W	X L
Boston	24	11	- -	8-2	25	10
Baltimore	18	19	7.0	6-4	18	19
New York	17	18	7.0	6-4	20	15
Toronto	15	21	9.5	2-8	16	20
Tampa Bay	14	22	10.5	3-7	13	23

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

Orioles: Guthrie solidified his bid for a rotation slot on Tuesday, throwing six strong innings against Tampa Bay to pick up the second win of his career. Interestingly enough, both of those wins have come against the Devil Rays. He has thrown relatively well in two starts in place of injured veteran Jaret Wright, but he will likely be kept on a short leash against Boston. Guthrie threw 67 pitches against Tampa Bay.

Red Sox: What more can you say about Beckett? He has started off 2007 like a man on a mission. With a win in this one, Beckett would become just the fourth pitcher in Red Sox history to win his first eight starts of the season. He is coming off a solid outing against the Blue Jays, in which he scattered five hits and allowed one run over seven innings. This will be Beckett’ second start of the year against the Orioles. He notched a 5-2 victory at Baltimore on April 26.

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	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.000
K. Youkilis	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.000
D. Ortiz	1	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	1.000
M. Ramirez	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
J.D. Drew	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---
M. Lowell	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
J. Varitek	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
C. Crisp	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---
D. Pedroia	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---
Totals	8	1	0	0	0	1	0	2	.125

Guthrie has only faced these batters once in his career. There wasn't a lot of success there, but it is a small sample size.
Historical Pitching line

Pitcher	GS	W	L	Sho	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA
Guthrie	0	0	0	0	2	2	1	0	0	2	4.50
Beckett	2	2	0	0	15	10	3	1	0	9	1.80

As I stated above Guthrie has only faced the Sox once in his career, last year while with Cleveland on 4/27. You may not remember that game but I am sure Josh does since it was a shellacking, final score 15-3 in Cleveland. That was the first loss last year for Mr. Beckett.

As for Josh, he has faced the Orioles only two times in his career. 5/15/2006 a seven inning outing giving up only 2 hits and one run (home run). Earlier this year he pitched a good game against the O's on 4/26. Eight innings of 2 runs, in a game that Wily Mo Pena won on his Grand Slam.

Unless you have been living under a rock you know that Beckett is shooting for his eighth win, tying him with Babe Ruth, Dave Ferris and Roger Moret for best start in Red Sox history. His previous wins vs the Orioles have both came at Camden Yard.

Thanks to Boston's 13 runs yesterday they only trail the Yankees and Detroit in runs scored. Conversely they have only allowed 120 runs the lowest amount in the majors. Last year after 35 games the Sox were 21-14 and had allowed 169 runs.

In my vs .500 teams this year the Sox are now 6 - 7. Making them 18 - 4 vs winning teams.

Hazy, Lazy, Afternoon

Well, Sox game is now over and am watching a little bit of the futures at Fenway. Hansack is pitching for the PawSox against the Mud Hens. Top of the fourth and no score.

A Willie Wilson moment for Ellesbury in the first inning. Mud Hens did a pitch out on an attempted steal. Ellesbury in easily at second base. I can still remember Wilson doing that against Texas. After the steal I can still remember Jim Sundberg staring down at 2nd base, wondering how in the heck Wilson had beat his throw.

Hansack in the 4th gives up the 2 run home run.

Enough of this game though, back to the Sox.

Schilling's outing today was not great. Going in today the Sox Starters had a 3.58 ERA and a WHIP of 1.2. After the start, 3.66 and WHIP of 1.22.

Red Sox 07 Game 35 Recap

Final

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Baltimore	0	0	0	0	1	3	0	0	0		4	13	1
Boston	0	0	0	1	3	1	3	5	x		13	15	0

W: J. Lopez (1-0, 0.00); L: J. Leicester (0-1, 21.60) HR: None.

• Hero - Lopez
• Goat - Traschel
  UPDATE: fixed hero and goat

Idle thoughts

Schilling gets another no decision, his third of the year. Out of 35 games this is only the 5th no decision for the starting pitchers. His first no decision was due to the Sox coming from behind to win (vs Yankees on 4/20), the second one was a blown save by Papelbon in the ninth. This last no decision continues the pattern of win - nd - win - nd -win - nd.

Today was the shortest outing since opening day for Schilling. After the turmoil created by his comments this week on Bonds, get ready for the "Instead of flapping your lips, you should be concetrating on pitching" comments. It is going to come, just watch.

Lopez looked good in his 1 inning. You really can't blame him for giving up the run that tied the game. Very few people are going to get two outs without the run scoring in a bases loaded situation.

Donnelly on the other hand did not look good. 1b by Tejada and HBP (Hernandez).
Hero continued his stellar performance by getting a K (very big since Tejada stole third), and followed with an inning ending ground ball to Lowell. He started the eighth with the first two batters reaching but a double play and another ground ball (this time to Lugo) meant a 1 2/3 inning appearance with no runs allowed. Truly a hero in the dark.

Thanks to 11 batters in the bottom of the eighth, the game really did become a blow out, but Papel-bot needed the work. K, F7, 1b and line out to Lowell. Good enough for me after a week layoff for the bot.

Red Sox 07 Game 35

Saturday, May 12                         Fenway Park 1:05 PM ET

Steve Trachsel, RHP (1-3, 3.70) Orioles (18-18) @ Curt Schilling, RHP (4-1, 3.28) Red Sox (23-11)

AL East Standings

Team	W	L	GB	L 10	X W	X L
Boston	23	11	- -	7-3	23	11
Baltimore	18	18	6.0	6-4	18	18
New York	16	18	7.0	6-4	19	15
Tampa	14	21	9.5	3-7	12	23
Toronto	14	21	9.5	1-9	16	19

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

Red Sox: Even after a shaky seventh inning in his last start, Schilling has a nice roll going. Last Sunday's 4-3 victory at Minnesota was Schilling's fifth quality start in six outings since his Opening Day loss to Kansas City. Schilling had a shutout working Sunday until the Twins scored three times in the seventh. Because Manager Terry Francona chose not to skip anyone because of an off-day, Schilling will have an extra day's rest going into this start. Schilling beat the Orioles three times in three starts last year, then won again, 6-1, with seven strong innings on April 25.

Orioles: Trachsel has been the resident hard-luck starter in Baltimore. He's pitched at least six innings with three earned runs or less four different times, but has three no-decisions and a loss in those games. The veteran has gone three starts since his last victory, but he's pitched into the sixth inning in six of his seven starts.

No stats today, just the following thoughts:

• The win last night by Baltimore means the Sox are 6 and 7 vs losing teams.
• Curt Schilling is 3 and 0 after losses.
• The Sox are 2 and 3 on Saturdays

MLB.com press pass can be found here.

Red Sox 07 Game 34 Recap

Final

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Baltimore	2	0	0	0	3	0	0	1	0		6	13	0
Boston	0	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	0		3	10	1

W: B. Burres (1-1, 3.68); L: J. Tavarez (1-4, 6.60); SV: C. Ray (8)
HR: None.

• Hero - Miguel Tejada
• Goat - Julian Tavarez with help from cement glove Willy Mo Pena

Not much to say here, the whole game stunk. After giving up 2 runs in the first Julian was
dealing until the 5th when the wheels came off due to some poor pitching and from Wily Mo
playing in the outfield. The bats didn't help by leaving the bases loaded 3 times.

Abysmal game.

Press pass here.

Update:  Changed headers on box score.

Red Sox 07 Game 34

Friday,May 11                                                                    Fenway Park |  7:05 PM ET

BAL Brian Burres, LHP (0-1, 3.71) Orioles (17-18) @ BOS Julian Tavarez, RHP (1-3, 6.48) Red Sox (23-10)

Red Sox are 2 and 0 vs Baltimore this year.

AL East Standings

Team	W	L	GB	L 10	Exp W	Exp L
Boston	23	10	-	8 - 2	23	10
Baltimore	17	18	7	5 - 5	17	18
New York	16	17	7	7 - 3	18	15
Tampa Bay	14	20	9.5	4 - 6	12	22
Toronto	13	21	10.5	1 - 9	15	19

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

Red Sox: For someone who was last a regular starter in 2002, Tavarez has done a serviceable job in his last two starts. He beat the Yankees on April 29 in the Bronx by allowing only Doug Mientkiewicz's three-run homer in five innings, then came back with a quality start against the Twins and Johan Santana on Saturday night at the Metrodome (two runs in six innings with seven strikeouts). In 13 career appearances against the Orioles, the 33-year-old Tavarez is 2-2 with a 4.05 ERA.

Orioles: Burres got knocked out in the fourth inning of his first big-league start, but he still appears to be on line to make a second. The southpaw was Baltimore's first contingency plan to replace injured starter Adam Loewen, who will be out for the foreseeable future. Burres gave up seven hits and five earned runs in his first start, but there aren't many other options within the organization. If he stumbles again, he may go back to the bullpen.

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	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---
K. Youkilis	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
D.Ortiz	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.500
M.Ramirez	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
J.D.Drew	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---
M.Lowell	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---
J.Varitek	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---
C. Crisp	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---
D. Pedroia	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---
Totals	4	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.250

Not a lot of history vs Burres. He has never made a start vs the Sox so all of these stats are as a relief pitcher. He is a LHP, so, the Sox could struggle.

Historical Pitching line

Pitcher	GS	W	L	Sho	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA
Burress	0	0	0	0	3	1	0	0	0	3	0.00
Tavarez	2	2	2	0	20	21	9	2	9	16	4.05

Tavarez has only made 2 starts vs the Orioles. One of those was last year in Sept. He went 5-6-2-1-5-0 earning the win. The team is 2 and 3 in Tavarez's starts this year. This will be the first time in 2 weeks that Tavarez will not be facing the other teams Ace.

Sox are 4 and 1 on Friday's this year.
Chow!