Game 1: Jon Lester (5-5, 5.09) @ PHI Joe Blanton (4-3, 5.46) Scouting Report: Red Sox: Lester was nearly perfect in his last start, on Saturday against the Rangers at Fenway Park. He took a perfect game into the seventh inning before Michael Young's one-out double to left-center field broke up Lester's bid. The left-hander finished the night with a complete game -- his first since his no-hitter on May 19, 2008, against the Royals at Fenway -- and he allowed two hits (both by Young) and two walks in Boston's 8-1 win. In his last two outings, Lester has struck out a combined 23 batters. He has faced the Phillies once before, in 2008, getting the win with seven scoreless innings and six hits allowed. Phillies: Blanton has pitched much better recently. He allowed just five hits and one run in six innings in a 3-2, 12-inning loss to the Dodgers on Saturday in Los Angeles. His only mistake came in the fourth inning, when he allowed a home run to right field to Andre Ethier to give the Dodgers a 1-0 lead. Blanton was 2-3 with a 7.11 ERA after his first eight starts this season. But in his past three starts, the right-hander is 2-0 with a 1.80 ERA, having allowed four earned runs in 20 innings. "I feel like my stuff is coming out pretty good," Blanton said. "I feel like I have an idea where I'm going to throw it instead of throwing it up there and hoping it goes to the right spot." Game 2: Daisuke Matsuzaka (1-4, 7.33) @ Antonio Bastardo (2-0, 2.45) Scouting Report: Red Sox: Matsuzaka struggled again in his sixth start of the season, giving up five runs on 10 hits and a wild pitch in 5 2/3 inninngs, while striking out eight without issuing a walk as the Rangers beat the Red Sox, 6-3, on Sunday at Fenway Park. Matsuzaka posted season highs in innings, pitches (102), hits allowed and strikeouts, and he tied his season high in runs allowed. Boston is 1-5 in Matsuzaka's starts this season. He has not faced the Phillies in his career. Phillies: The rookie left-hander has impressed in his first two starts in the Major Leagues, taking the place of injured right-hander Brett Myers in the rotation. Bastardo is 1-0 with a 2.45 ERA in his first two starts. He pitched mostly on adrenaline in his big league debut on June 2 against the Padres at PETCO Park. Bastardo mixed his pitches a little better on Sunday against the Dodgers in Los Angeles, where he allowed two runs in five-plus innings in a 7-2 victory. Phillies manager Charlie Manuel is hoping Bastardo continues to throw more offspeed pitches to keep hitters honest. But so far, so good for Bastardo. Game 3: Josh Beckett (7-2, 3.77) @ J.A. Happ (4-0, 2.98) Scouting Report: Red Sox: The ace is on fire. Over his last two starts, he is 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA, allowing just three hits over 13 2/3 innings. Beckett has reeled off seven quality starts in a row. He is 5-0 with a 1.70 ERA since May 5. Beckett has fared well against the Phillies in his career, going 8-3 with a 3.67 ERA. At Citizen's Bank Park, he is 2-1 with a 5.29 ERA in three starts. Perhaps Beckett's best memory of that ballpark is the home run he hit there in 2006. Phillies: Happ had to battle Tuesday in a loss to the New York Mets at Citi Field, but it wasn't enough. He allowed three runs in his first three innings before he settled and retired seven of eight batters. Happ allowed six hits, four runs, four walks and two home runs in 5 1/3 innings, so he certainly he has pitched better since he rejoined the Phillies rotation. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Let's keep it rolling Sox! And Mets, let's help each other out this weekend eh?
After thinking about this past series, I am feeling great about this team right now. Papi seems to have really turned a corner and the starting pitching is just now starting to come together. Beckett and Lester are only now hitting their strides, and Buchholz and Smoltz both appear ready to contribute. On top of that, they've got probably the best bullpen in the last ten years. They could easily be better than both the '07 and '04 teams. It's early, a lot can still change, etc. but this team has some serious potential. With this weekends pitching match ups, hopefully this can be the start of a dominant stretch.
Easy with the Ppi dude.....two swings doesnt erase a minot league-caliber season....not so sure he turned any corner
So far in June he's hitting .296 with an OPS of 1.033. I think he's on his way back. I don't like the timing of the interleague games though, hopefully the games off don't screw with his progress.
He's looked awful up until the last few weeks but I think given his career numbers a rebound is more likely than for his funk to continue. You almost never see drop-off's this dramatic in a players performance; he's definitely on the decline but I would expect a few 25 hr/ 820 ops type seasons seasons first as he slips into mediocrity and his skills continue to diminish. I'm just being optimistic because he looked good against one of the premier lefties in the league and any offense from him is huge given their lineup.
Isn't there an Around the League thread? I thought you didn't make threads for non-Sox-Yankees series that weren't played at Fenway?
Devil, who told you Bard isn't that good? :lol: Seriously though, he looked nasty last night in a big time spot. His fastball command still could improve a bit, but man that slider....Ryan Howard looked completely lost against him. Another good win, gotta love this pitching staff.
The only problem I see with Bard so far is that it doesn't look like there's much movement to his fastball.
Does anyone in the NL East know how to play defense? Ellsbury scored on an error by Howard on a throw over to first now Youk is on third
