Whose streak will be snapped Sunday at Fenway Park?
The Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays have gone in opposite direction since the Rays’ 6-4 win over the Red Sox on Opening Day. Tampa Bay has lost seven in a row, while the Sox have rattled off seven straight wins and will look to complete a three-game sweep over the Rays on Sunday.
Eduardo Rodriguez will make his season debut for Boston after completing rehab from offseason knee surgery. The 25-year-old left-hander’s kneecap originally slid out of place prior to the 2016 season, and he suffered the injury again on June 1 of last season when he slipped and fell in the bullpen before a game against the Baltimore Orioles.
The lefty built up his stamina to around 90 pitches and says he is ready to go and has full confidence in his knee.
“I can go out there and compete without thinking about the knee,” Rodriguez said, via The Boston Globe. “That’s what I’ll have now . . . You will see. I can just pitch now.”
Tampa Bay will counter with right-hander Andrew Kittredge as part of one of the Rays’ “bullpen games.” Kittredge has appeared in two games this season (one start) tossing 5 2/3 innings and accumulating a 3.18 ERA.
Here are the full lineups for Sunday’s Red Sox-Rays game:
BOSTON RED SOX (7-1)
Mookie Betts, RF
Andrew Benintendi, CF
Hanley Ramirez, DH
J.D. Martinez, LF
Xander Bogaerts, SS
Mitch Moreland, 1B
Eduardo Nunez, 2B
Rafael Devers, 3B
Christian Vazquez, C
Eduardo Rodriguez, LHP (2017 stats: 6-7, 4.19 ERA)
TAMPA BAY RAYS (1-7)
Matt Duffy, 3B
Kevin Kiermaier, CF
Carlos Gomez, RF
C.J. Cron, DH
Daniel Robertson, 2B
Brad Miller, 1B
Jesus Sucre, C
Adeiny Hechavarria, SS
Rob Refsnyder, LF
Andrew Kittredge, RHP (0-2, 3.18 ERA)
