Boston Red Sox fans probably didn’t know a lot about pitcher Joe Kelly when he was acquired from the St. Louis Cardinals at the MLB trade deadline. However, the young right-hander sure showed his new club and its fans a lot in his first outing with the Sox.
Kelly overcame emotions and a minor injury as he pitched a gem against his ex-teammates in his Boston debut last week. He’ll look to build on that on Tuesday night, as he takes the mound when the Red Sox begin a two-game interleague series with the Cincinnati Reds.
The Red Sox obviously don’t see the Reds very often, but Kelly is quite familiar with his former NL Central rivals.
Kelly has impressive career numbers against Cincinnati and carries a 2-0 record with a 1.64 ERA in three career appearances against the Reds. The 26-year-old went six innings and allowed just one run in his last appearance against the Reds, an Aug. 27 start last season.
Veteran right-hander Mat Latos is scheduled to start for the Reds. The Boston roster is a combined 1-for-17 all time against Latos.
Here are the lineups for both clubs.
Red Sox (52-65)
Brock Holt, CF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
David Ortiz, 1B
Yoenis Cespedes, LF
Daniel Nava, RF
Xander Bogaerts, SS
Christian Vazquez, C
Will Middlebrooks, 3B
Joe Kelly, P
Reds (60-58)
Billy Hamilton, CF
Jay Bruce, RF
Todd Frazier, 3B
Devin Mesoraco, C
Brayan Pena, 1B
Chris Heisey, LF
Ramon Santiago, 2B
Zack Cozart, SS
Mat Latos, P
