Pitching Matchups: Red Sox Hoping To End Skid Against Twins At Fenway
BOSTON (CBS) -- The Boston Red Sox came limping back to Fenway Park following a 1-6 road trip, and Mother Nature made them wait an extra night to open a four-game set against the Minnesota Twins.
Monday night's game was postponed and will now be played on Wednesday afternoon as part of a split admission, day-night doubleheader. This won't be an easy series for the 22-29 Red Sox, as the Twins are coming off a 20-7 month of May.
The good news is the Red Sox don't have to face any lefties, who they're batting .220 against -- ranking them 28th in the Majors.
Here are a look at the pitching matchups for the four-game series:
Tuesday, June 2 -- 7:10pm
Mike Pelfrey (4-1, 2.77 ERA) vs. Clay Buchholz (2-6, 4.33 ERA)
When fans with tickets to Tuesday night's game woke up on Monday, they were expecting to see Eduardo Rodriguez make his Fenway debut when their evening at the ole ball yard came around. But with Monday's rainout, they now get Clay Buchholz.
Which actually might not be as bad as many put it (emphasis on might). Despite an 0-2 record in his last three starts, Buchholz has a 1.99 ERA in those outings, allowing five earned runs over 22.2 innings pitched. He's reached the eighth inning in each of those three starts, giving many some hope that he's turning things around. His most recent outing came against these very same Twins, where Buchholz allowed two runs in the bottom of the first inning but kept them off the board the rest of the way.
Buchholz will once again be opposed by Mike Pelfrey, who held Boston to one run off five hits over seven innings. Catcher Sandy Leon was responsible for two of those hits.
Key Matchup: Joe Mauer vs. Buchholz
The Minnesota first baseman is 7-for-19 in his career against Buchholz with three doubles. He's a career .300 hitter against the Red Sox and has hit .292 in 23 games at Fenway.
Wednesday, June 3 -- 1:35pm
Phil Hughes (4-4, 4.59 ERA) vs. Eduardo Rodriguez (1-0, 0.00 ERA)
A rainy night at the park turned into an afternoon at the park for some lucky fans, and if you don't feel lucky you have to take a day off of work to go to a ball game, getting to see Rodriguez make his Fenway debut should help ease those worries.
Rodriguez was great in his first career Major League start last week, shutting out the Rangers over 7.2 innings while allowing just three hits and walking two. He had four 1-2-3 innings in his debut, striking out seven. It was the perfect outing for a struggling Sox rotation, and now we'll see if the rookie can keep it going.
He'll be opposed by Phil Hughes, who gave up four runs off six hits over 6.2 innings in a 6-4 win over Boston last week. Prior to that outing, Hughes had back-to-back outings where he allowed two runs over seven innings, with Minnesota going 1-1 in those games.
Hughes is 3-5 with a 5.77 ERA in 11 career starts at Fenway Park.
Key Matchup: Dustin Pedroia vs. Hughes
Perdoia is 13-for-38 in his career against Hughes with three doubles, five home runs and 14 RBI. He boasts an .816 slugging percentage against the Twins righty.
Wednesday, June 3 -- 7:10pm
Trevor May (3-3, 5.07 ERA) vs. Rick Porcello (4-4, 5.37 ERA)
Rick Porcello was bumped from Tuesday night to Wednesday night due to the rainout, giving him a full week of rest between starts. The way things have been going, some extra time may be what the righty needs.
Porcello has allowed 13 earned runs in his last 11.1 innings pitched. In his last start, against the Twins, he allowed six runs off seven hits (including a pair of homers) in seven innings of work.
Going for the Twins on Wednesday night is Trevor May, who is 1-1 with a 6.91 ERA on the road this season.
Key Matchup: Brian Dozier vs. Porcello
The Twins lead-off hitter has just seven hits in 27 at-bats against Porcello (.259 average), but three of those hits have left the yard. Dozier hasn't had much success against the Sox though, with a .179 career average in 17 games and just a .150 average in 10 games at Fenway. Dozier gets the Twins lineup going, so making sure he doesn't break out of his Fenway slump will be a key for the entire series.
Thursday, June 4 -- 4:10pm
Kyle Gibson (4-3, 2.61 ERA) vs. Steven Wright (2-2, 3.90 ERA)
Wright had a pretty decent month of May, though his win-loss record doesn't reflect it. The knuckleballer went 1-2 with a 3.97 ERA in four starts last month, allowing 10 runs in 22.2 innings over that span. The Sox lineup hasn't given him much to work with though; Wright received eight runs from the Boston offense in his lone win of May, and just six runs of support in his other three outings.
He'll be opposed by Kyle Gibson, who has allowed just two runs over 13.2 innings over his last two starts. The righty has made one career start against Boston, at Fenway, allowing just two hits over seven shutout innings last June. The Red Sox went on to win that game though on back-to-back homers by David Ortiz and Mike Napoli in the bottom of the 10th inning.
Key Matchup: Pablo Sandoval vs. Gibson
It's a very small sample, but Panda is 1-for-4 against Gibson, with that one hit being a three-run homer.
