Afternoon Red Sox Delight – 9/15

After a day off on Monday, the Boston Red Sox finish up their homestand with a 3-game set against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in a possible ALDS preview.

The game tonight  is scheduled to start at 7:10 p.m. and the game will be televised on NESN in the Red Sox television market. If you live in the Angels television market, you can catch the game on Fox Sports West. And if the television isn’t your cup of tea, you can catch the game on one of the many affiliates of the Red Sox Radio Network.

Daisuke Matsuzaka returns to the mound for his first start since June 19th. He’s made just eight starts this season and is 1-5 with a 8.23 ERA. He’s faced the Angels once in his career and that came at Fenway Park where he took the loss. He allowed five runs in six innings of work. He has lost his last five starts at Fenway.

John Lackey has made 23 starts for the Angels this season and is 10-7 with a 3.53 ERA. He hasn’t faced the Red Sox this season and has made thirteen career starts against the Red Sox. In those starts he is 3-6 with a 5.54 ERA. Two of those wins came in 2008. He’s made eight career starts at Fenway Park and is 2-4 with a 6.34 ERA.

With Angels looming, Sox closing in [Extra Bases]

Youkilis, Martinez unavailable [Extra Bases]

Wakefield and the weekend [Extra Bases]

Another challenge for Mellor [Extra Bases]

Wakefield: ‘I’ve gone this far, I’m not going to pull the plug now’ [Full Count]

OF prospect Daeges to have ankle surgery Friday [Projo Sox Blog]

Rotation set for weekend; Woodward sent down to clear room for Matsuzaka [Projo Sox Blog]

Wakefield in search of answers [Projo Sox Blog]

Here are the starting lineups for tonight’s game:

And here is how the hitters have fared against tonight’s starting pitchers: