Ahhhhh, some afternoon playoff baseball between the Boston Red Sox and the Tampa Bay Rays and you couldn’t ask for a better day weather wise. Temperatures will be in the low to mid 60’s with a NE to ENE wind of around 7-10 MPH.
It’s a pivotal Game 3 for both squads as the Red Sox will be looking to keep a firm grasp on home field advantage in the ALCS as the next 3 games are at Fenway Park. And they definitely have the right man on the mound this afternoon in Jon Lester.
Lester has been nothing short of spectacular for the Red Sox all season and in the playoffs. In his 2 starts in the ALDS, he was 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA in 14 innings of work. He’s also been dominant at the Fens this season as he was 11-1 with a 2.49 ERA in 17 starts. He has also owned the Rays at Fenway Park in 2008 as he was 3-0 with a 0.90 ERA in his only 3 starts against them. For his career, Lester is 4-0 with a 3.38 ERA in 7 starts. He truly has been the ace of 2008 for the Red Sox.
Rays skipper and Rolling stones aficionado Joe Maddon counters with Matt Garza. He has made 4 starts against the Red Sox this season and is 1-1 with a 4.50 ERA. In 6 career starts against them, he is 3-1 with a 3.86 ERA.
If you’re like me, you like to see what the Red Sox are thinking on the day of the game so let’s look at Terry Francona’s press conference from today. Below the video, you’ll find links to the 4 press conferences held earlier this afternoon.
Here are the transcripts of the press conferences for Terry Francona, Tim Wakefield, Joe Maddon and Andy Sonnanstine.
Adam Kilgore of the Boston Globe has a nice piece on the breakout of Jason Bay in the playoffs.
If you missed Amalie Benjamin’s chat over at Boston.com this morning, don’t forget to check out the transcript.
David Ortiz has had a quiet postseason for the Red Sox.
Mike Petraglia of WEEI.com reminds us the last time the Red Sox played an ALCS afternoon game, it lasted 5 hours and 49 minutes.
Tony Massarotti of the Boston Globe gives us his video preview of Game 3. He’ll also be holding an in-game chat over at Boston.com.
Busted Coverage has some videos of Red Sox fans being tasered by police over the weekend.
Dan over at Red Sox Monster tells us about the Red Sox fan who’s suing Bon Jovi for the song that’s been running on TBS. Maybe the guy should should Ernie Johnson, Dennis Eckersley, Harold Reynolds and Cal Ripken for this rendition.
One lineup change for the Red Sox today. Alex Cora is in at shortstop for Jed Lowrie because Terry Francona thinks it gives the Red Sox a better chance to win.
1-1
1. Akinori Iwamura, 2B
2. B.J. Upton, CF
3. Carlos Pena, 1B
4. Evan Longoria, 3B
5. Carl Crawford, LF
6. Wily Aybar, DH
7. Dioner Navarro, C
8. Rocco Baldelli, RF
9. Jason Bartlett, SS
– Matt Garza, SP
1-1
1. Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
2 .Dustin Pedroia, 2B
3. David Ortiz, DH
4. Kevin Youkilis, 3B
5. J.D. Drew, RF
6. Jason Bay, LF
7. Mark Kotsay, 1B
8. Jason Varitek, C
9. Alex Cora, SS
– Jon Lester, SP
And here is a look at how the hitters have fared against this afternoon’s starting pitchers in the regular season for their careers.
