The Boston Red Sox look to avoid a three-game sweep, wrapping up their home series with the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday night.
Boston is fresh off a second consecutive blown save by closer Kenley Jansen, who allowed St. Louis to plate three runs in the ninth inning en route to a 4-3 Red Sox loss, their fourth in the last five games. But unlike Friday night’s collapse, Jansen was caught off guard and hampered on the mound by Major League Baseball’s pitch clock, charged with three violations in the inning.
“I kind of got confused a little bit,” Jansen explained, per NESN’s postgame coverage. “… It just messed up my whole game.”
In the rubber match, manager Alex Cora sits Kiké Hernández, instead starting Pablo Reyes, who will make his second start with Boston. Rookie Enmanuel Valdez also will start at second base and bat ninth. Reese McGuire gets the start behind the plate, giving Connor Wong a day off for the first time following three straight starts.
Corey Kluber, who was dealt four straight losses to begin his debut campaign with the Red Sox, will take the mound in search of a second straight victory. Kluber last tossed five innings, allowing three earned runs to the Philadelphia Phillies on May 6. The 37-year-old is on a streak of going at least five innings in his last four outings, but has yet to earn a victory at Fenway Park.
First pitch from Fenway Park is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET. The game will be aired on ESPN’s “Sunday Night Baseball” telecast.
BOSTON RED SOX (22-18)
Alex Verdugo, RF
Masataka Yoshida, LF
Justin Turner, DH
Rafael Devers, 3B
Jarren Duran, CF
Triston Casas, 1B
Enmanuel Valdez, 2B
Reese McGuire, C
Pablo Reyes, SS
Corey Kluber, RHP (2-4, 6.29 ERA)
ST. LOUIS CARDINALS (12-25)
Lars Nootbar, RF
Paul Goldschmidt, 1B
Nolan Gorman, 2B
Nolan Arenado, 3B
Wilson Contreas, DH
Brendan Donovan, LF
Paul DeJong, SS
Dylan Carlson, CF
Andrew Knizer, C
Miles Mikolas, RHP (1-1, 5.40 ERA)
