Jon Lester Looks To Continue Home Dominance Against Diamondbacks

With the Manny Ramirez watch gaining more participants by the day, the Red Sox continue their series with the lowly Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday night at Fenway Park.

Boston took the opener of the three-game set Tuesday, securing a 6-3 win behind Clay Buchholz and four relievers, who combined to throw 3 1/3 scoreless innings.

Buchholz lasted just 5 2/3 innings, however, snapping a streak of six straight quality starts. Jon Lester will try to pick up Buchholz when he gets the start Wednesday opposite former Baltimore Oriole Rodrigo Lopez.

WHEN AND WHERE

Diamondbacks (26-39) at Red Sox (38-28)
Wednesday, June 16, 7:10 p.m.
Fenway Park, Boston

HEAD
TO HEAD

The two teams have split 10 meetings.

PITCHING
MATCHUP

RHP Rodrigo Lopez (2-5, 4.45 ERA) vs. LHP Jon Lester (7-2, 3.18 ERA)

Lester was not pleased with his previous start, which saw him blow a five-run lead against a weak-hitting Cleveland Indians squad. The southpaw gave up six runs on nine hits over six innings. Still, Lester has won seven straight decisions and enters 5-1 with a 3.03 ERA in 10 interleague starts. He has never faced Arizona.

Lopez is no stranger to the Sox. He is 10-9 with a 4.53 ERA in 26 games (20 starts) against Boston. Included in that stretch is a 6-3 mark and a 3.77 ERA at Fenway Park. The 34-year-old Lopez has been an unlikely workhorse for the D-Backs, throwing at least six innings in 11 of his 13 starts.

LINEUPS

STAT SHEET

Red Sox

STAT
SHEET

Red Sox

• Boston has won 11 of its last 15 interleague contests.
• Kevin Youkilis committed an error at first base Tuesday, his first at the position since April 8, 2009, a stretch of 137 games.
• Second baseman Dustin Pedroia has doubled in each of his last seven home games, the longest streak by a Red Sox hitter since Wade Boggs doubled in seven straight during the 1983 season.

Diamondbacks


• Arizona has dropped 11 straight on the road, matching the longest in franchise history.

• First baseman Adam LaRoche is 7-for-17 (.412) with eight RBIs in his last four games.
• Second baseman Kelly Johnson had a 10-game hitting streak snapped Tuesday.

BLACK AND BLUE

Red

Sox


• Daisuke Matsuzaka was placed on the 15-day disabled list
  Saturday with a right forearm strain.
• Outfielder Jeremy Hermida was placed on the 15-day disabled
  list Friday after an MRI revealed five fractured ribs, the result of a
  collision with third baseman Adrian Beltre one week earlier.
• An MRI conducted last Wednesday revealed a new fracture in outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury's ribs. Ellsbury, who was placed on the 15-day disabled list May 28 for the second time this year, went to the Athletes' Performance center in Arizona last week for at least two weeks of rest and recovery.
• Josh Beckett took a day off from throwing Tuesday but will do long toss from 120 feet again Wednesday. Beckett is on the DL with a lower back strain.
• Infielder Jed Lowrie continues to try to work back from mononucleosis.

Diamondbacks


• Former Cy Young Award winner Brandon Webb remains on the 60-day DL after right shoulder surgery last summer. He threw off a mound earlier in the week and plans to do so again Wednesday.
• Right-hander Kris Benson is on a rehab assignment at Triple-A Reno as he works his way back from a right shoulder strain.

OUTLOOK

With Lester on the mound, Dustin Pedroia hitting again and the Diamondbacks an absolute mess on the road, all signs point to a Red Sox romp. But that was also the case six days ago in Cleveland, when Lester's phenomenal run of recent success came to a screeching halt.

Look for Lester to put it back together at home, where he is 4-0 with a 1.23 ERA over his last five starts.