Jon Lester makes his final start in front of the Fenway faithful.
The Boston Red Sox take the field tonight with their very slim AL East title hopes alive as the Tampa Bay Rays lost this afternoon in Detroit. Essentially to win the division, the Red Sox must win their last 4 games while the Rays lose their last 3. No easy feat since it requires help plus the Boston area weather forecast for tomorrow and the next few days doesn’t seem like it wants to cooperate and could cancel a game or two (pure speculation on my part. We all know how accurate weather forecasters are).
Jon Lester makes a tuneup start for the Red Sox and my best guess tells me he won’t be overused tonight as Terry Francona makes preparations for the playoffs. Lester has faced the Cleveland Indians once this season where he gave up 4 runs in 4 1/3 innings back on April 14th. He has faced the Indians 3 times in his career and is 1-0 with a 4.96 ERA.
Jeremy Sowers hopes to have a good start tonight for the Indians and put himself on the radar for a spot in the 2009 Indians rotation. He has made 2 starts against the Red Sox in his career and is 0-1 with a 5.06 ERA.
The Red Sox made two moves today purchasing the contract of PawSox shortstop Gil Velazquez and they also placed Bartolo Colon on the restricted list. Putting Colon on the restricted list allowed the Red Sox to put Velazquez on the 40-man roster.
Our friend Dan over at Red Sox Monster says Lil Wayne is a Red Sox fan, sorta.
Michael Vega of the Boston Globe has some news and notes on Mike Lowell and J.D. Drew among other things.
Lineups and batter/pitcher matchups after the jump.
78-79
1. Grady Sizemore, CF
2. Jamey Carroll, 3B
3. Ben Francisco, RF
4. Jhonny Peralta, SS
5. Kelly Shoppach, C
6. Travis Hafner, DH
7. Ryan Garko, 1B
8. Franklin Gutierrez, LF
9. Josh Barfield, 2B
– Jeremy Sowers SP
93-65
1. Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
2. Jed Lowrie, 3B
3. Dustin Pedroia, 2B
4. Kevin Youkilis, 1B
5. Jason Bay, LF
6. Jason Varitek, C
7. Mark Kotsay, RF
8. Jeff Bailey, DH
9. Alex Cora, SS
– Jon Lester, SP
And here is how the hitters have fared against tonight’s starting pitchers.
