Boston Red Sox (85-60) @ Tampa Bay Rays (80-64)
Jon Lester (15-6, 2.93) @ James Shields (14-10, 2.77)
1:40 PM EDT | Tropicana Field (St. Petersburg, FL)
TV: NESN RADIO: WEEI 850, WWZN 1510
GAME NOTES
Another day, another loss for the Red Sox. Although the Yankees have also lost four games in a row, the Red Sox haven’t lost ground on first place but has allowed Tampa Bay back into the Wild Card race. The Red Sox turn to their best available pitcher, Jon Lester, to stop the losing skein. In his last start Lester went seven scoreless innings in a 14-0 whitewash against the Blue Jays. Lester is 10-4 with a 3.65 career ERA against the Rays.
“Complete Game” James Shields will face the Sox today. In his last start Shields threw his 11th complete game of the season in a 5-1 victory against the Rangers. Shields has not had great success in his career against the Red Sox, going 6-11 with a 4.84 ERA against the Carmine Hose.
Lineups
Boston Red Sox
- Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
- Dustin Pedroia, 2B
- Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
- David Ortiz, DH
- Josh Reddick, RF
- Carl Crawford, LF
- Jason Varitek, C
- Marco Scutaro, SS
- Mike Aviles, 3B
Tampa Bay Rays
- Desmond Jennings, LF
- B.J. Upton, CF
- Evan Longoria, 3B
- Ben Zobrist, 2B
- Johnny Damon, DH
- Sean Rodriguez, SS
- Casey Kotchman, 1B
- Jose Lobaton, C
- Brandon Guyer, SS
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, currently rehabbing); Kevin Youkilis (sore left hip, hernia) day-to-day; Erik Bedard (left knee, left lat) day to day, likely to miss one start
Tampa Bay: Alex Cobb, thoracic outlet syndrome (placed on the 15-day DL August 7)
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Fun Facts
-Both the Red Sox and the Yankees have lost four games in a row on four consecutive days. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, this is the first time that this has happened since the last four games of the 1985 season.
– On September 11, 1918, the Red Sox beat the Cubs 2-1 to win the World Series four games to two. It was the fifth World Series victory for the Red Sox and would eventually be the last until 2004.
-And for today’s Totally Untrue Fun Fact: Johnny Damon was the inspiration for the GEICO cavemen.