John Farrell Tabs Roenis Elias As Red Sox' No. 5 Starter
BOSTON (CBS) -- John Farrell has made his decision: Roenis Elias will be the Red Sox' No. 5 starter.
Elias will start Friday night's game against the Seattle Mariners, his former team, Farrell announced on Tuesday ahead of Boston opening a three-game set with the Baltimore Orioles at Fenway Park. Rick Porcello will get an extra day of rest and start Saturday against the M's while David Price, who will start Tuesday's opener against Baltimore, will start Sunday's finale against Seattle on normal rest.
Elias, acquired from the Mariners in the Carson Smith-Wade Miley swap last winter, has spent the majority of his season in Pawtucket, making one appearance for Boston. He went 4-3 with a 3.54 ERA in 10 games (nine starts) for the PawSox, allowing 61 hits and 24 earned runs over 61 innings of work. He's struck out 60 batters, but has also issued 27 walks so far this year.
The 27-year-old southpaw is coming off two of his best outings of the season, allowing just one run over his last 16 innings. That includes a complete game, six-hitter on June 5 in which he struck out eight, and his time on the bump, Elias tossed seven shutout innings while striking out seven in a 5-1 win over Louisville.
The Red Sox had the benefit of going with a four-man rotation the last two weeks thanks to built-in off-days in their schedule.