Red Sox vs. Astros lineups: Wade Miley separates Red Sox from a new low

The Red Sox have now lost seven games in a row twice in 2015. Wade Miley (and a lineup that can't seem to score) is now all that stands between them and a new low of eight straight.

Mookie Betts and Pablo Sandoval are back in the starting nine Thursday night, and hopefully the day off did some good for the young center fielder who suddenly finds himself slumping hard. Sandoval's been in a bad place too this month after briefly surging in June, but at this point I feel like we're just hoping that 2015 turns things around for him after how terribly his Red Sox career has started.

Really, though, the question is just when the Red Sox are going to look like a real baseball team again. It happens from time-to-time even for the bad squads, providing a brief oasis of not-misery in this sea of...well, you get the point. And if it's going to happen, it might well be with Miley on the mound. While he has his disasters, he is generally competent more often than not since April, and certainly more reliable than Joe Kelly or Rick Porcello. He's not the ace, God knows, but he's something more than perhaps his 4.49 ERA lets on.

First pitch is at 8:10 p.m. ET with broadcasts on NESN and WEEI.

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