Clay Buchholz will get his second start of the season tonight when the Red Sox play game one of a four game series in New York. Coming off one of his shortest career outings where he gave up 13 hits and 6 earned runs in 4 1/3 innings, Buchholz is without a doubt hoping to see his double digit ERA shrink down a bit.
Heading into a hitters' park like Yankee Stadium isn't usually a great place to try and improve your ERA, but when you have an ERA of 12.56 over a course of 4 innings it isn't really asking for much. Besides, Buchholz recent numbers against the Yankees and in Yankee Stadium are very respectable. Last season Buchholz went 3-0 in games against the Yankees and had a microscopic ERA of 0.5. One of those starts was actually a complete game in Yankee Stadium. Over the past 3 seasons Buchholz has earned a 3-1 record in New York.
Pitching for the Yankees tonight is Michael Pineda. If you just asked yourself who that is, don't worry about it you're not alone. Pineda is just making his second start for the New York Yankees. He came onto the MLB scene in 2011 when he was playing for the Seattle Mariners. As a rookie he put up some crazy numbers and was named an All-Star. As a rookie he had the 3rd highest strikeout percentage in the MLB. Pineda joined the Yankees the following season but never played any games because of an injured shoulder. He spent the 2012 season injured with a shoulder surgery and then spent the 2013 season in the minor leagues.
Since he has only played one season in the majors, the current Red Sox players have seen very little of him. It will be interesting to see how Pineda fares pitching in Yankee Stadium. Although he gets a lot of strikeouts, he is not a ground ball pitcher and relies on fly outs. Since fly balls tend to leave Yankee Stadium rather easily, Pineda may struggle at home this year.
In Pineda's first start this season he was the sore luck loser. Although he only gave up 1 run in 6 innings of work, the Yankees wound up lose to Toronto 4-0.
Tonight's Red Sox lineup looks like it may score some runs tonight. Finally, we get to see Grady Sizemore step into the leadoff spot. This could be key as Pineda usually needs about 15-20 pitches to get into his groove. If the Red Sox hop on him early they could set up the rest of this series very nicely.
Since he has only played one season in the majors, the current Red Sox players have seen very little of him. It will be interesting to see how Pineda fares pitching in Yankee Stadium. Although he gets a lot of strikeouts, he is not a ground ball pitcher and relies on fly outs. Since fly balls tend to leave Yankee Stadium rather easily, Pineda may struggle at home this year.
In Pineda's first start this season he was the sore luck loser. Although he only gave up 1 run in 6 innings of work, the Yankees wound up lose to Toronto 4-0.
Tonight's Red Sox lineup looks like it may score some runs tonight. Finally, we get to see Grady Sizemore step into the leadoff spot. This could be key as Pineda usually needs about 15-20 pitches to get into his groove. If the Red Sox hop on him early they could set up the rest of this series very nicely.
Red Sox Lineup
Grady Sizemore LF
Dustin Pedroia 2nd
David Ortiz DH
Mike Napoli 1st
Daniel Nava RF
Xander Bogaerts SS
AJ Pierzynski C
Jackie Bradley Jr. CF
Jonathan Herrera 3rd
Grady Sizemore LF
Dustin Pedroia 2nd
David Ortiz DH
Mike Napoli 1st
Daniel Nava RF
Xander Bogaerts SS
AJ Pierzynski C
Jackie Bradley Jr. CF
Jonathan Herrera 3rd
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