Game 4: Pirates at Red Sox

120 years ago the Red Sox, known at the time as the Boston Americans, played the Pittsburgh Pirates in the first World Series. Cy Young faced off against Honus Wagner. The Huntington Avenue Grounds, now a part of Northeastern University, played home to the Boston portion of the nine-game series. And the Boston Americans set the stage for a dominant start to the 1900s with a win.

Today, the Red Sox call Fenway Park home and the Pirates are unfortunately a shell of their former glory, although with Ben Cherington at the helm trying to build a homegrown core surrounded by some mid-level free agents (sound familiar?) maybe that next competitive incarnation isn’t too far a away.

The Pirates began the season dropping their first series 2-1 against the Cincinnati Reds, although the did win on Opening Day. Former multi-stint Red Sox pitcher Rich Hill was the losing pitcher for Game 2 of 2023. the pitch clock has been in full effect with game times of 3:02, 2:16, and 2:24. Maybe today will be the day the Sox play a quick one! Of course the 27 runs the Sox have scored definitely added to the game length.

While it was a short one, Adam Duvall claimed AL Player of the Week honors for his efforts in the series against the Baltimore Orioles.

Kutter Crawford takes the mound against the Pirates and will look to improve on his 2022 performance. After moving into the rotation in June, Crawford recorded an ERA of 5.00 against a FIP of 4.21. A .306 BABIP helped opposing hitters reach base but the righty also struck out 23% of hitters while walking 8.7% so there was some bright side behind the overall pitching line. If he can keep Boston in the game for the offense to do its thing…he might just be able to do it.

Fun fact of the night: Pirates’ shortstop ONeil Cruz is 6’7” dwarfing even “tall for a shortstop” Alex Rodriguez who stands at 6’3”.

First pitch is at 7:10 PM ET on WEEI and NESN.