Boston Red Sox (26-22) @ Cleveland Indians (30-16)
Jon Lester (6-1, 3.68) @ Mitch Talbot (1-0, 1.46)
12:05 PM EDT |Progressive Field (Cleveland, OH)
TV: NESN RADIO: WEEI 850, WWZN 1510
INJURY REPORT
Cleveland: Grady Sizemore, right knee contusion (Placed on the 15 day DL May 16th retroactive to May 11th); Travis Hafner, strained right oblique (Placed on the 15 day DL May 2oth); Alex White, right middle finger soreness (Placed on the 15 day DL May 21st retroactive to May 19th)
Boston: Daisuke Matsuzaka, sprained elbow (Placed on the 15 day DL May 17th); John Lackey, strained elbow (Placed on the 15 day DL May 16th, retroactive May 12th) to Marco Scutaro, strained left oblique (Placed on the 15 day DL May 8th); Dan Wheeler, strained calf (Placed on the 15 day DL May 5th); Bobby Jenks, bicep soreness (Placed on 15 day DL May 5th, retroactive to May 2nd); Felix Doubront, left groin strain (Placed on the 7 day DL on May 11)
GAME NOTES
Josh Beckett proved once again on Tuesday night that he belongs in the conversation when it comes to the best pitchers in baseball. Beckett twirled six and two thirds scoreless innings, further reducing his ERA to a 1.69. Many would have been happy with a 3.50 from Beckett this year, instead he has split that in half. The Sox picked up their twenty-sixth win of the season, and look to steal a series at Progressive Field this afternoon with Jon Lester on the mound. Lester has hit a rough patch as of late, not pitching well in his last three starts but earning the wins regardless. He last pitched against the Cubs, yielding five runs in six innings of work while giving up an uncharacteristic twelve hits. He leads the team with six wins and comes in with a 3.68 ERA. Manager Manny Acta gives the nod to starter Mitch Talbot, who will make his first start since heading to the disabled list in mid-April. Talbot has only made two starts this season and one of them came against Boston. In those two starts he’s posted a 1-0 record and a 1.46 ERA while striking out eleven. Dustin Pedroia is back in the lineup hitting second and playing the same base , after getting a scheduled day off on Tuesday, although he suffered a minor foot injury the night before as well. Jarrod Saltalamacchia will catch Lester. The Sox continue their march back towards the top of the division, and taking two out of three from the team that boasts the best record in the majors would be a good place to start.
Lineups
Red Sox
- Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
- Dustin Pedroia, 2B
- Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
- David Ortiz, DH
- Jed Lowrie, SS
- Carl Crawford, LF
- Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C
- Mike Cameron, RF
- Drew Sutton, 3B
Cleveland
- Michael Brantley, LF
- Asdrubal Cabrera, SS
- Shin-Soo Choo, RF
- Shelly Duncan, DH
- Matt LaPorta, 1B
- Austin Kearns, LF
- Jack Hannahan 3B
- Lou Marson, C
- Adam Everett, 2B
Stats
-Lester’s HR/FB rate sits at 16.4%, up from a career rate of 9.4%.
-Mitch Talbot has two career starts against Boston. He has not made it to the fifth inning either time.
-Jason Varitek’s home run last night was his first since May 30th of 2010.
-Orlando Cabrera against Lester (18 at bats): .333/.429/.444 with 4 RBI’s.
-Travis Buck’s ninth inning home run against Jonathan Papelbon was the first Papelbon had given up this season. He had seven long balls hit against him last season.
-Lester has the most trouble against the cleanup spot. The fourth man in the batting order is batting: .357/.419/.536 against him.
-The twelve hits Lester gave up in his last start marked a career high.
-Boston is an American League best 15-7 in the month of May.
-The Red Sox have not been in first place this season. They never reached the top spot in the division last year either.
Will Lester get back to his normal dominance in May? Let us know what you think in the comments section and stick around for the game. We’d love to hear from you.
Join us Thursday afternoon for a live chat during the Sox/Tigers game.