Tonight will be a reunion of sorts as former White Sox pitchers, Jake Peavy and Mark Buehrle take turns on the mound at the Rogers Centre. Will Middlebrooks will be having a reunion of his own as he returns to the Red Sox lineup after having been on the disabled list with a calf strain.
Hopefully, last night the Red Sox got the early season ugliness out of their system. Prior to the game I was hoping for a repeat of Wednesday evening's game in regards to early scoring by the Red Sox and errors by the Yankees. Unfortunately, we got the exact opposite. While it was awful, I've got to admit I didn't care too much because the Bruins came back in their game. Well, tonight there is no hockey to counteract a crappy outing by the Red Sox, so they better play a heck of a lot better.
While, the story of the day is Will Middlebrooks' return to the team, I'm going to finish off this blog by looking at the two pitchers who will be on the mound for their 5th starts of the season.
Mark Buehrle has both the ERA (.64) and record (4-0) to show how dominant he has been this season. The only blip on his radar was his outing against Houston on April 18th when he lasted 5 1/3 innings and gave up 8 hits and 1 run. If that's the one blemish on his season so far, then you know he's been flawless.
While not as dominating as Buerle, Peavy has also started off the season with some pretty good numbers. Unfortunately he has no wins to show for his efforts because the team never seems to score any runs for him. Peavy's worst start was his last when he went 5 2/3 giving up 10 hits, 4 walks and 5 runs to Baltimore. Having not surrendered many hits or runs in his 3 other outings, Peavy's biggest concern this year has walks. In 4 games he has walked 14 guys. So far it hasn't hurt him, but it's only a matter of time if he keeps that up.
The former Chicago teammates had a pitchers duel last August when they faced each other. Buehrle and the Blue Jays got the 2-1 win. Peavy went 6 innings giving up 5 hits and 2 runs. Buehrle finished the 7th with 10 hits, 2 walks and 1 run. So, while Peavy pitched the better game, Buehrle got some run support. Maybe tonight will be the night when Peavy finally gets some run support.
Players to watch for both teams are Melky Cabrera, Jonny Gomes, David Ortiz and Will Middlebrooks. You might also watch form any interactions between Buehrle and his former backstop, Pierzynski.
Mark Buehrle has both the ERA (.64) and record (4-0) to show how dominant he has been this season. The only blip on his radar was his outing against Houston on April 18th when he lasted 5 1/3 innings and gave up 8 hits and 1 run. If that's the one blemish on his season so far, then you know he's been flawless.
While not as dominating as Buerle, Peavy has also started off the season with some pretty good numbers. Unfortunately he has no wins to show for his efforts because the team never seems to score any runs for him. Peavy's worst start was his last when he went 5 2/3 giving up 10 hits, 4 walks and 5 runs to Baltimore. Having not surrendered many hits or runs in his 3 other outings, Peavy's biggest concern this year has walks. In 4 games he has walked 14 guys. So far it hasn't hurt him, but it's only a matter of time if he keeps that up.
The former Chicago teammates had a pitchers duel last August when they faced each other. Buehrle and the Blue Jays got the 2-1 win. Peavy went 6 innings giving up 5 hits and 2 runs. Buehrle finished the 7th with 10 hits, 2 walks and 1 run. So, while Peavy pitched the better game, Buehrle got some run support. Maybe tonight will be the night when Peavy finally gets some run support.
Players to watch for both teams are Melky Cabrera, Jonny Gomes, David Ortiz and Will Middlebrooks. You might also watch form any interactions between Buehrle and his former backstop, Pierzynski.
Red Sox Lineup
- Dustin Pedroia, 2B
- Shane Victorino, RF
- David Ortiz, DH
- Mike Napoli, 1B
- Jonny Gomes, LF
- Xander Bogaerts, SS
- A.J. Pierzynski C
- Will Middlebrooks, 3B
- Bradley Jr. CF
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