Cleveland Indians (54-53) @ Boston Red Sox (67-41)
Carlos Carrasco (8-9, 4.67) @ Tim Wakefield (6-4, 5.06)
7:10 PM EDT | Fenway Park (Boston, MA)
TV: NESN RADIO: WEEI 850, WWZN 1510
GAME NOTES
Maybe it’s because he’s been in Boston for sixteen years. Maybe it’s because he has 175 losses to go with 199 wins. Maybe it’s because it is impossible to picture the Red Sox without him. Whatever the reason, it seems like Tim Wakefield has more than 200 wins. In fact, it seems like he could have 500 wins. He’s been around forever, his knuckleball butterflying through eternity. Of course, when you analyze the numbers, all those 13-9 seasons, all the innings he logged from the bullpen, 200 seems like a very viable number. So we’ll celebrate it tonight. At least, we hope we will. The Cleveland Indians probably have quite different sentiments. Carlos Carrasco takes the mound for them, and pitches against history tonight. He’s lost five straight decisions, and comes off a rough start in Kansas City where he gave up seven runs in 3 1/3 innings. What makes the 200th victory any different than the 199th? Well, nothing really. It’s a landmark that we choose to celebrate. It’s a tangible moment for us to celebrate a pitcher that has come to embody the Red Sox over the past sixteen years.
Lineups
Boston
- Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
- Dustin Pedroia, 2B
- Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
- Kevin Youkilis, 3B
- David Ortiz, DH
- Carl Crawford, LF
- Jarrod Saltalamacchia
- Josh Reddick, RF
- Marco Scutaro, SS
Cleveland
- Ezequiel Carrera, CF
- Jason Kipnis, 2B
- Asdrubal Cabrera, SS
- Travis Hafner, DH
- Carlos Santana, 1B
- Kosuke Fukudome, RF
- Lonnie Chisenhall, 3B
- Austin Kearns, LF
- Lou Marson, C
INJURY REPORT
Boston: Clay Buchholz, lower back strain (placed on 15-day DL June 19, retroactive to June 17); J.D. Drew, left shoulder impingement (placed on 15-day DL July 26); Bobby Jenks, strained back (placed on 15-day DL July 16); Jed Lowrie, right shoulder injury (placed on 15-day DL June 17, scheduled to start rehab assignment August 1)
Cleveland: Shin-Soo Choo, fractured left thumb (placed on 15-day DL June 27th)
Stats
-Wakefield hasn’t lost to the Indians since 2006.
-Carlos Carrasco went 0-5 with a 9.13 ERA in July.
-Jacoby Ellsbury is hitting .376 with 25 RBI’s in his last 28 games.
-Three of rookie Jason Kipnis’s seven hits have been home runs.
-Tim Wakefield made his major league debut on July 31st, 1992. He won that game.
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Enjoy the game everyone. Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section, we’d love to hear from you.