Boston Red Sox (47-34) @ Houston Astros (29-54)
Andrew Miller(1-0, 3.09) @ J.A. Happ (3-9, 5.54)
7:05 PM EDT | Minute Maid Park (Houston, TX)
TV: NESN, MLB Network RADIO: WEEI 850, WWZN 1510
INJURY REPORT
Boston: Clay Buchholz, lower back strain (Placed on the 15-day DL on June 19, retroactive to June 17); Carl Crawford, strained left hamstring (Placed on the 15-day DL June 18); Jed Lowrie, right shoulder injury (Placed on the 15-day DL on June 17); Kevin Youkilis, sore left ankle (day-to-day)
Houston: Jason Bourgeois, strained right quad (Placed on the 15-day DL June 29); Humberto Quintero, high ankle sprain (Placed on the 15-day DL May 28)
GAME NOTES
For six innings last night, one of the worst pitching staffs in MLB, stymied one of the best offenses. But the Red Sox were finally able to break through in the 7th inning scoring 6 runs, en route to a 7-5 win. The most encouraging thing was that the rally was started by the bottom of the order. J.D. Drew, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Josh Reddick, Drew Sutton, and Darnell McDonald all reached base before Dustin Pedroia and Adrian Gonzalez got the big hits of the inning, a two-run single and two-run double respectively. David Ortiz will get the start at first base tonight with Gonzalez shifting to right field against Houston LHP J.A. Happ. Happ was one of the major pieces of the trade last July that sent Roy Oswalt to the Phillies. Current Red Sox hitters have only 19 at-bats against Happ, with only 2 hits. One of those hits was a home run off the bat of Josh Beckett in 2009.
LINEUPS
Boston
Jacoby Ellsbury CF
Dustin Pedroia 2B
Adrian Gonzalez RF
Kevin Youkilis 3B
David Ortiz 1B
Jarrod Saltalamacchia C
Darnell McDonald LF
Marco Scutaro SS
Andrew Miller P
Houston
Michael Bourn CF
Angel Sanchez 2B
Hunter Pence RF
Carlos Lee 1B
Jason Michaels LF
Chris Johnson 3B
Clint Barmes SS
J.R. Towles C
J.A. Happ P
PLAYER OF THE DAY
One of the worst trades in Red Sox history was with the Houston Astros in 1990. At the trading deadline, the Red Sox traded minor league prospect Jeff Bagwell to the Astros for relief pitcher Larry Andersen. Andersen was solid down the stretch for the Red Sox pitching in 22 games, posting a 1.23 ERA and helping the Red Sox to the AL East title. But, the Red Sox lost Andersen to free agency following the season. Meanwhile, Bagwell became a legend in Houston hitting 449 HRs and gathering 1,529 RBIs to go along with a .297 career batting average over a 15-year career.