Tim Wakefield looks to recover from his last start against the Texas and keep the Red Sox playoff push going in the right direction.
This is a huge series this weekend for the Boston Red Sox and the Toronto Blue Jays playoff hopes. The Red Sox can either bury the Blue Jays from the wild card talk or the Blue Jays can put a huge dent in the Red Sox chances.
Right now the lead in the wild card for the Red Sox over the Jays is 6.5 games while they lead the Twins by 5.5 games. A split of the series would most hurt the Jays chances while anything worse then that hurts the Red Sox. Remember, they still have 3 games to play next weekend in Toronto.
Tim Wakefield starts for the Red Sox tonight and looks to recover from perhaps his worst start in his Red Sox career where he lasted just 1 2/3 innings against the Rangers. Wakefield has faced the Rangers 3 times this year and is 0-1 with a 4.15 ERA. Overall in his career, Wakefield has made 47 appearances (37 starts) against the Jays and is 15-11 with a 3.87 ERA.
The Blue Jays send out David Purcey who is making just his 10th career start in the big leagues and is currently 3-5 with a 5.23 ERA. He has not faced the Red Sox in his career.
Dan Lamothe of Red Sox Monster reminds us that the season is upon us for the rookies to get dressed as evidenced by his post about the Jays rookies. The Red Sox rookies will likely get their time when the team heads to Tampa on Sunday night.
I’ve been meaning to post these two links for a few days now and that little light bulb went off in my head again.
Please take a moment to vote Sean Casey for the Marvin Miller Man of the Year and Kevin Youkilis for the 2008 Roberto Clemente Award.
If the Red Sox are to move their spring training home to Sarasota, they need to get a deal done by October 31st to ensure the stadium will be built and ready for 2011.
The Red Sox won two coin flips concerning a potential one game playoff with either the Rays or the Twins. If the Red Sox and Twins tie for the wild card, the Red Sox will host a 1-game playoff. If the Rays and Red Sox are tied for 1st in the AL East and the wild card goes to the 2nd place team in the AL Central. If the Red Sox and Rays tie for the AL East and the wild card, then no playoff game will be played. Since it gets complicated explaining this, I’ll let Ian Browne of MLB.com do the explaining for you (1/2 way down in the article).
Cito Gaston says the Jays are ready for this series.
Lineups and batter/pitcher matchups after the jump.
79-67
1. Marcos Scutaro, 2B
2. Brad Wilkerson, LF
3. Alex Rios, RF
4. Vernon Wells, CF
5. Lyle Overbay, 1B
6. Kevin Mench, DH
7. Rod Barajas, C
8. Scott Rolen, 3B
9. John McDonald, SS
– David Purcey, SP
85-60
1. Coco Crisp, CF
2. Dustin Pedroia, 2B
3. David Ortiz, DH
4. Kevin Youkilis, 1B
5. Jason Bay, LF
6. Mike Lowell, 3B
7. Mark Kotsay, RF
8. Jed Lowrie, SS
9. Kevin Cash, C
– Tim Wakefield, SP
And here is how the hitters have fared against tonight’s starting pitchers courtesy of Baseball Reference. No member of the Red Sox has faced Purcey.
