After falling last night 7-4, the Boston Red Sox look to get back to .500 tonight in the second game of a three-game set with the Tampa Bay Rays at Historic Fenway Park.
First pitch is scheduled for 7:15 p.m. and the game will be nationally broadcast on FOX to 25% of the country. If you can’t catch the television broadcast, you can always listen to it on the Red Sox radio network.
Josh Beckett looks to keep his good pitching going in his ninth start of 2012. In his previous eight starts, Beckett is 4-4 with a 4.38 ERA. He picked up the win in his only start against the Rays this season when he allowed one run in eight innings of work on April 13th. He’s made 20 career starts against the Rays and is 10-4 with a 2.84 ERA. He has not lost to the Rays at home since 9/27/06 and has not lost a game to them since 4/30/09.
David Price makes his 10th start of 2012 for Joe Maddon’s Rays. In his previous nine starts, Price is 6-3 with a 2.88 ERA. He was matched up with Beckett in that April 13th start and took the loss after allowing three runs in three innings of work. Price has made 11 career starts against the local nine and is 6-4 with a 3.43 ERA. Five of those starts have come at the Fens where he is 3-1 with a 2.51 ERA.
Click on the read more button below to see today’s lineups, batter/pitcher matchups and links from the day if you’re on the home page.
Here are today’s lineups:
 28-18 |
 22-23 |
||
| 1. Carlos Pena | 1B | 1. Mike Aviles | SS |
| 2. B.J. Upton | CF | 2. Dustin Pedroia | 2B |
| 3. Matthew Joyce | DH | 3. David Ortiz | DH |
| 4. Ben Zobrist | RF | 4. Kevin Youkilis | 1B |
| 5. Luke Scott | DH | 5. Adrian Gonzalez | RF |
| 6. Drew Sutton | 3B | 6. Will Middlebrooks | 3B |
| 7. Sean Rodriguez | 2B | 7. Daniel Nava | LF |
| 8. Jose Molina | C | 8. Kelly Shoppach | C |
| 9. Elliot Johnson | SS | 9. Marlon Byrd | CF |
| David Price | SP | Josh Beckett | SP |
And here is how the hitters have fared against today’s starting pitchers:
REFRESH OR CHECK BACK OFTEN AS MORE LINKS WILL BE ADDED BEFORE GAMETIME IF/WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE AND WILL BE BOLDED
To open the links up in a new tab or window, use Control+click
Maddon: A lot of respect for Red Sox players [Rob Bradford – WEEI.com]
Valentine quite unhappy with Rays coaches: ‘Unprofessional’ & ‘immature’ & ‘out of control’ & more [Clubhouse Insider]
Maddon tweets about Fenway fracas [CSN New England]
Gonzalez in RF Saturday night [CSN New England]
Red Sox Notes: Crawford, Sweeney, and Kalish [CSN New England]
Daniel Nava again has improbable impact on Boston Red Sox [ESPN Boston]
Valentine calls Rays coaches ‘immature’ [ESPN Boston]
Gonzalez to roam Fenway’s right field [ESPN Boston]
Bobby Valentine lashes out at Rays’ ‘immature and out of control’ coaching staff [Extra Bases]
Alfredo Aceves’ Ability to Lock Down Ninth Inning Makes Him Amica Pitcher of the Week [NESN.com]
David Ortiz Looking to Get Back on Track After Some Recent Struggles [NESN.com]
Bobby Valentine Rips Tampa Bay’s Coaching Staff, Calls Them ‘Immature And Out of Control’ [NESN.com]
Maddon, Valentine exchange salvoes about professionalism of coaching staffs [Projo Sox Blog]
Gonzalez starts in right field at Fenway Park for first time [Projo Sox Blog]
Podsednik was bunting for a base hit in the sixth inning Friday [Projo Sox Blog]
Facing Rays, Beckett looks to keep rolling [RedSox.com]
Kalish to begin rehab assignment tonight with Salem [SoxProspects.com]
Kalish: ‘It’s been such a long process’ [SoxProspects.com]
Follow Ian on Twitter @soxanddawgs. And be sure to like us on Facebook as well.
Photo credits: AP Photo, Getty Images
