The Red Sox’ long homestand continues Monday night when they welcome the Seattle Mariners to town for three games. In addition to figuring out a way to dodge the raindrops expected to envelop Fenway Park, here are some keys to Boston’s success over the next few days.
Time to Pitch in, Fellas
Each of the Red Sox starters scheduled to pitch in the series could use a good outing.
John Lackey picked up a win his last time out but it was an unsightly one and he is 1-2 with a 6.49 ERA over his last four starts. He goes in the opener.
Tuesday night’s starter, Josh Beckett, seemingly made some strides with five scoreless innings to begin his last start five days ago, but he gave up four runs in the sixth and two in the seventh. Beckett is 0-2 with a 10.69 ERA in a span of three outings.
The series finale on Wednesday will see Jon Lester attempt to rebound from his worst start as a major leaguer. In a career-low two innings against Toronto on Friday the lefty gave up a career-high nine runs. Lester is opposite Seattle ace Felix Hernandez, making a quality effort that much more crucial.
John, Josh and Jon need to be better, especially against a weak Mariners attack.
Don’t Look Ahead
We may have many more important series down the stretch, but for now it’s safe to say that the three games immediately following the Seattle series are as big as they come. After the Red Sox bid adieu to the Mariners they travel to Tampa Bay for three games with the wild card-leading Rays.
The last time the Sox played in Tropicana Field they were swept in three straight and they have lost four in a row to Tampa Bay overall. A similar result would all but do in the boys from Boston.
Don’t Sleep on the M’s
In addition to earning a split of a four-game set with the Red Sox last month, Seattle has played better ball under interim manager Daren Brown. The Mariners are 7-5 since Brown took over for the fired Don Wakamatsu earlier this month.
Boston has not swept Seattle at home since 2003 and dropped two of three at Fenway last year. Remember, the Sox are just 19-19 against the four American League teams that began Sunday under .500. They simply have not taken care of business against beatable teams.
