As the Red Sox prepare to play their eleventh game of the season with their ace on the mound, I set this reasonable--even conservative goal for them:
Please, please, just hold the Rays--the league's worst offense before Daisuke Matsuzaka got through with them--to only ten runs.
I mean, for God's sake, they're batting Felipe Lopez cleanup.
Felipe
Lopez
- Sam Fuld, LF
- Johnny Damon, DH
- BJ Upton, CF
- Felipe Lopez, 2B
- Sean Rodriguez, 3B
- Ben Zobrist, RF
- Kelly Shoppach, C
- Dan Johnson, 1B
- Elliot Johnson, SS
This is just not something that Jon Lester should have a problem with.
Of course, with a lefty on the mound, the Red Sox' lineup is lacking some of the usual names as well.
- Carl Crawford, LF
- Dustin Pedroia, 2B
- Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
- Kevin Youkilis, DH
- Jed Lowrie, 3B
- Mike Cameron, CF
- Jason Varitek, C
- Darnell McDonald, RF
- Marco Scutaro, SS
Cameron, Youkilis, and McDonald all have some solid hits against David Price in the past, while Adrian Gonzalez hasn't gotten to see him yet. One thing's for sure, though: if you were hoping for some momentum for Carl Crawford after his two-hit game on Monday, this might not be the ideal situation.
Can Jon Lester build on a successful start in Cleveland and leave behind his April woes?
And can David Price please just let us win? Or at least get a good number of hits with RISP?
We'll see.
Go Sox!