The Red Sox have been winning plenty of series of late, but so far the sweep remains elusive. With Felix Doubront on the mound against rookie Andre Rienzo, though, Boston will have a good look at making it 3-0 against the White Sox.
Boston Red Sox (81-56)
- Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
- Shane Victorino, RF
- Dustin Pedroia, 2B
- David Ortiz, DH
- Daniel Nava, LF
- Mike Carp, 1B
- Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C
- Stephen Drew, SS
- Xander Bogaerts, 3B
Starting Pitcher -- Felix Doubront
Chicago White Sox (56-78)
- Alejandro De Aza, CF
- Leury Garcia, 2B
- Alexei Ramirez, SS
- Paul Konerko, DH
- Avisail Garcia, RF
- Jeff Keppinger, 1B
- Dayan Viciedo, LF
- Conor Gillaspie, 3B
- Tyler Flowers, C
Starting Pitcher -- Andre Rienzo
Andre Rienzo has two of the three terrifying characteristics: he is a rookie, and he is a soft-tossing rookie at that. His fastball averages just under 90 miles per hour. As you may have guessed by looking at that lineup, however, he is not a lefty. He's also the sort of guy who can struggle against the Red Sox, given his tendency to allow walks and Boston's tendency to draw them. As a guy who very much relies on ground balls to make up for that lack of control, it also might behoove Boston's better baserunners to vacate first as soon as possible.
Chances are, though, that the Red Sox won't need to really blow him out. The White Sox aren't a great hitting team, this we know. But against lefties their wOBA is .293. To put that in context, Will Middlebrooks has a .293 wOBA on the season, including all the misery at the beginning of the year. They are slightly better against lefties, as a team, than Daniel Nava, who really should just bat left-handed all the time since, well, what's he got to lose?