Before the Boston Red Sox can start focusing on this weekend’s showdown series with the Yankees, they must first take care of the Cleveland Indians. The Red Sox and Indians are set to square off for the final game of a four-game series Thursday night at Fenway Park.
The Red Sox are heavily favored in baseball odds at -215 while the Indians are +185. The over/under is 9.
The Boston Red Sox (61-47, 33-23 home) currently trails both the New York Yankees and the Tampa Bay Rays by 6 ½ games. This weekend, they begin a four-game series with the Yankees that will be the first of three straight road series. Before they head out on the road, however, they are hoping to end things at home in a positive way.
The Red Sox have dropped two out of three games to the Indians and are hoping for a split. David Ortiz homered to score Boston’s only loss in Wednesday night’s 9-1 loss. The home run extended his hit streak to 13 games.
Wednesday’s win was the fourth win in five games for the Cleveland Indians (46-62, 23-35 away). Their lineup took advantage of hitter-friendly Fenway Park Wednesday night, with Andy Marte hitting a three-run home run and Jayson Nix hitting a two-run shot. The Indians are looking for their first series win in Boston since late June of 2005.
Daisuke Matsuzaka (7-3, 4.22 ERA) will take the mound for Boston. The right-hander is 3-0 with a 0.86 ERA in his last three starts against the Indians. Matsuzaka will be opposed by rookie right-hander Josh Tomlin (1-0, 1.46 ERA). Tomlin won his major league debut against the Yankees on July 27, then allowed one run and four hits in 5 1/3 innings in a 2-1 victory at Toronto on Saturday.
