Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim(16-14) @ Boston Red Sox (14-15)
Ervin Santana(1-3, 4.89) @ Josh Beckett (2-1, 2.65 )
7:10 PM EDT |Fenway Park (Boston, MA.)
TV: NESN RADIO: WEEI 850, WWZN 1510
INJURY REPORT
Anaheim: Kendrys Morales, broken ankle (Placed on the 15 day DL March 21st); Scott Kazmir, stiff lower back (Placed on the 15 day DL April 8th)
Boston: None
GAME NOTES
They started 0-6. The season was over before the first home game. 2-10 looked like rock bottom. But none of that matters tonight as the Sox look to move to .500 for the first time in 2011. Josh Beckett, whose improvement is one of the reasons for the turnaround, starts on six days rest after complaining of arm fatigue. Coming off a no-decision in Baltimore, Beckett looks to pick up his third win on the season and his second against Anaheim. Pushed to 125 pitches against the Angels on April 21st, he gave up two runs over eight three-hit innings. He matches up against the righty Ervin Santana who has struggled to a 4.89 so far this year. Coming off his first victory of the season friday against Tampa Bay, he looks to improve on the five runs he gave up on April 23rd against Boston. Kevin Youkilis, scratched from yesterdays game with an illness, is back at third and batting cleanup. Its taken 29 games, but the Sox can even out their record tonight.
Lineups
Angels
- Erick Aybar, SS
- Bobby Abreu, DH
- Maicer Izturis, 2B
- Torii Hunter, RF
- Alberto Callaspo, 3B
- Howie Kendrick, 1B
- Vernon Wells, LF
- Hank Conger, C
- Peter Bourjos, CF
Red Sox
- Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
- Dustin Pedroia, 2B
- Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
- Kevin Youkilis, 3B
- David Ortiz, DH
- Jed Lowrie, SS
- Mike Cameron, RF
- Carl Crawford, LF
- Jason Varitek, C
Stats
-Bobby Abreu has 77 AB’s against Beckett, hitting only .182 with 25 strikeouts but a .357 OBP
-The tale of odd years continues for Beckett, who has had an ERA under 4.00 in only one even year (3.79 in 2004), and doesn’t have an ERA higher than 3.89 in any odd year, posting an average of 35.5 more strikeouts in odd years than even.
-Crawford, who is 6 for 11 in May, is hitting .323/.344/.516 against Santana in 31 at bats.
-Ellsbury only has 9 walks in 109 at bats this season.
-Torii Hunter leads the League in double plays grounded into with 11. Howie Kendrick is third in the AL with 6.
-Jed Lowrie over the last 25 at bats: .160/.160/.280
-In the season series so far, Red Sox starters have a 1.03 ERA in six starts.
What Beckett do you think we’ll see tonight? Will he continue to be dominant or will the arm fatigue affect him? Let us know in the Comments section and get the discussion going.