Brandon Workman will try to get the Red Sox to five straight wins Friday night against the Tampa Bay Rays.
It's good to have David Ortiz back in the lineup after a calf issue led to a late scratch last night. Hopefully I'm not just jumping the gun here only for the Red Sox to pull the rug out from under my feet with another scratch.
Workman's first outing as part of Boston's 2014 rotation came against these very same Rays just five days ago, and while it wasn't exceptional, he did at least manage to keep the Red Sox in the game right up until Craig Breslow got tagged for five runs. Since that point, of course, the Red Sox have won four. The Rays? Three straight losses. Hopefully this is a chance for the Red Sox to catch Tampa Bay going the other way, rather than an opportunity to see old trends re-established.
First pitch is at 7:10 p.m. EST with broadcasts on NESN and WEEI.