Wednesday, January 15, 2025

MLB Preview: Boston Red Sox (31-312) at Cleveland Guardians (28-33)

BOSTON RED SOX NOTES:

STATE OF THE SOX: The Red Sox have lost 4 of their last 5 games beginning on 6/3-G2 vs. TB…They are 9-11 in their last 20 games. At 31-31 (.500), the Sox rank 5th in the AL East and are 5.0 games back from the AL’s 3rd Wild Card spot. Boston has been at or above .500 since 4/29 (14-14).

SERIES BUSINESS: With a win tonight, the Sox would improve to 12-7-1 in series play, including 8-4-0 in series against AL opponents. With a loss tonight, the Sox would fall to 11-8-1 in series play, including 0-3-0 in their last 3 series…Prior to that, they hadn’t lost back-to-back series all season. The Sox have alternated series results on the road (W, L, W, L, W, T, W, L, W): 3-0 at DET, 0-4 at TB, 2-1 at MIL, 1-2 at BAL, 2-1 at PHI, 1-1 at ATL, 2-1 at SD, 0-3 at LAA, 2-1 at ARI. The Sox are 8-1-0 in series when they win Game 1. The Red Sox are 5-1 in rubber games this year.

SOX & GUARDIANS: The Red Sox are 12-6 vs. CLE from 2021-23 (3-2 this season), including 6-2 at Progressive Field. The Sox have won 8 of their last 10 games at Progressive Field, beginning on 8/13/19. Alex Cora is 1 of 7 current MLB managers to have played for Terry Francona during his 8-year stint as manager of the Red Sox from 2004-11: Alex Cora (2005-08), Rocco Baldelli (2009), Kevin Cash (2010), Gabe Kapler (2003-06), Mark Kotsay (2008-09), Dave Roberts (2004), and David Ross (2008).

CENTRAL TIME: The Red Sox are 8-3 against AL Central teams this season, after going 18-15 in 2022. The Sox are outscoring AL Central opponents this season by a score of 68-50. They are 3-0-0 in series against AL Central opponents (3-0 at DET, 2-1 vs. MIN, and 2-1 vs. CLE). The Sox have won 4 consecutive series against AL Central opponents, beginning on 9/16/22 vs. KC.

GETTING BUSY: After Friday’s game was postponed and made up on Monday, the Red Sox are now in a span of 13 games in 12 days, from 6/3-14 (2-4 so far). The Sox are in a span of 26 games in 27 days, from 5/30-6/25, including 23 games in 23 days from 6/3-25. 3 of the Sox’ 5 series (10 of 16 games) from 6/3-18 are against AL East opponents (1-3 vs. TB, 3 games at NYY, 3 games vs. NYY)…Just 1 of their 9 series from 4/28-6/1 was within the division (5/1-4 vs. TOR). TOUGH TEST: The Red Sox have played 39 games against teams with a current winning percentage of .500 or better, tied for 5th most in MLB (TOR-42, STL-42, OAK-42 NYY-40). 7 of the Sox’ 10 series from 6/2-7/6 are against opponents who are currently above .500 (vs. TB, at NYY, vs. NYY, at MIN, vs. MIA, at TOR, vs. TEX).

ON THE MEND: Yu Chang started at SS in the 2nd game of his rehab assignment last night with Triple-A Worcester vs. Rochester (2-for-3, R, RBI, SB). Adam Duvall has played in 7 games on a rehab assignment with Worcester, making 6 starts in CF and 1 as the DH…In his last 5 games with the WooSox, Duvall is 5-for-18 with 2 HR, a double, 3 RBI, and 5 BB.

CLOSE SHAVES: 8 of the Red Sox’ last 11 games have been decided by 3 runs or fewer, including 4 one-run games and 2 two-run games. The Sox have lost 4 of their 6 one-run games since 5/3. Boston’s 10 losses by 1 run are 4th most in the AL behind CLE (17), SEA (12), and MIN (12).

COMEBACK KIDS: Tuesday night, the Red Sox trailed 2-0 through 5 innings and 2-1 through 7 innings before scoring 4 runs in the 8th and going on to win, 5-4. They have trailed in each of their last 4 wins. The Red Sox have 18 come-from-behind wins this season, 3rd most in MLB (BAL-20, CIN-19).

UPS AND DOWNS: The Red Sox have been held to 2 runs or fewer in 11 of their last 22 games (50%), compared to just 8 of their first 40 games (20%). The Sox have hit 1 HR over their last 6 games, their fewest in a 6 game stretch this season and since 8/13- 19/22 (also 1 HR).
The Sox have a .231 AVG/.309 OBP in their last 18 games, after entering that span with a .272 AVG/.342 OBP.

RED SOX OFFENSE
Dates Record AVG OPS Runs/Game
3/30-4/13 5-8 .235 .731 5.5
4/14-5/6 16-6 .295 .840 6.2
5/7-pres. 10-17 .243 .701 3.9

SLUGGING SOX: The Red Sox are tied for the MLB lead in doubles (140), and rank top 5 in runs (T-4th, 313), OBP (5th, .332), and XBH (5th, 212). The Sox rank 3rd in the AL and 6th in MLB in SO% (20.8). The Sox rank among league leaders in pitches per PA (7th, 3.96) and swinging strike percentage (4th, 16.9%).

FOUR SCORE AND…: The Red Sox are 29-10 when they score 4 or more runs, compared to 2-21 when they don’t. The Sox’ 39 games with 4+ runs scored are tied for 3rd most in the AL behind TB (46) and TEX (43). They have scored 4+ runs in 5 of their last 9 games, after doing so in just 1 of their previous 7 games.

RUNNIN’ RED SOX: The Red Sox rank 4th in the AL and 7th in MLB in SB% (83.3%, 35-for-42). The Sox ranked 22nd in MLB with a 72.2 SB% in 2022. 34% of the Red Sox’ baserunners have scored, tied for the 5th-highest percentage in MLB. With 100 games left to play, the Red Sox have 16 more stolen bases than they did last season through 62 games (35 SB in ‘23, 19 SB in ‘22).

BEEN THERE BEFORE: 4 players on the Red Sox’ active roster have combined for 10 All-Star selections: Jansen (3), Kluber (3), Devers (2), and Turner (2)…Devers was the AL’s starting 3B in the 2021 and 2022 All-Star Games. Masataka Yoshida is a 4-time NPB All-Star, including each of the last 2 seasons (2018-19, ’21-22).

TONIGHT’S STARTER: 67 MATT DERMODY – LHP
W-L ERA G GS IP ER HR BB SO WHIP AVG
2023 0-0 0.00 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0.00 .000
CAREER 2-0 5.60 30 0 27.1 17 7 7 22 1.39 .282

Selected to the active roster today…Will be making his Red Sox debut and 1st career start. Last pitched in a ML game on 8/4/22 with CHC at STL (1.0 IP, 2 ER, 2 BB, 1 SO). Owns a 4.50 ERA (22 ER/44.0 IP) in 9 games (8 starts) with Triple-A Worcester. Did not allow a run in 8.1 innings over four Grapefruit League games for Boston. Owns a 5.60 ERA (17 ER/27.1 IP) in 30 career MLB outings, all in relief, with TOR (2016-17) and CHC (2020-21). In 13 career road games, has a 4.30 ERA, 1.50 WHIP, and .290 opponent AVG (14.2 IP, 7 R, 18 H, 4 BB, 11 SO).

CLEVELAND GUARDIANS NOTES:

10-HIT EFFORT SPRINGS GUARDS PAST SOX
The Guardians evened their series against the visiting Red Sox with a 5-2 victory over Boston on Wednesday night at Progressive Field…Cleveland enters tonight looking to secure a victory in the club’s fourth consecutive series finale.

In a contest that saw the Guardians (2) and Red Sox (3) combine for 5 errors, Cleveland’s offense pounded out 10 hits en route to a victory, going 3-for-10 with runners in scoring position…JOSH BELL drove in a pair of tallies with a 2nd-inning RBI-single and a run-scoring fielder’s choice in the 4th that followed JOSH NAYLOR’s RBI-single…AMED ROSARIO and JOSÉ RAMÍREZ both added RBI-doubles in the 5th…TANNER BIBEE held the BoSox to a pair of runs for his second MLB win, though only one was earned (5.0IP, 4H, 2R-1ER, 2BB, 2SO, 90 pitches)…started the game with a leadoff walk to Alex Verdugo, who later came around to score on an RBI-single from Rafael Devers…Boston’s second tally scored on an infield error that would’ve ended the 4th inning…ELI MORGAN started a string of 4.0 spotless relief frames from Cleveland’s
bullpen by striking out the side in the 6th…EMMANUEL CLASE worked around a lead-off walk in the 9th to convert his MLB-leading 20th save.

Cleveland (28-33) sits in 2nd place in AL Central standings, 2.5 games behind 1st-place Minnesota (31-31) & 1.0 game ahead of 3rd-place Detroit (26-33)…despite winning 3 of 4 and 6 of last 10, Guardians have dropped 27 of last 46 overall since starting the year 9-6…club is 1-1 to begin a 6-game homestand against Boston & Houston (3 games each).

THE CLEVELAND HITS PARTY
Since May 28, Cleveland’s offense is hitting .282, 2nd in the AL behind Texas (.306) and 3rd in MLB…the club has double-digit hits in back-to-back contests and 6 of its last 10 games…only Texas (7) has more double-digit hit games than Cleveland (6) during that span…the club’s 100 hits since May 28 is 2nd in MLB behind Texas (109).

WILL BRENNAN (.467, 14-for-30) has the 2nd-highest batting average in MLB over that stretch with 4 doubles, one home run and 5 RBI…JOSH NAYLOR is 3rd in MLB with a .452 (14-for-31) average while hitting 4 doubles, one home run and 11 RBI. A WICKED RUBBAH-MATCH

With a win tonight, the Guardians will split the season series 3-3 against Boston…Cleveland is seeking its first season series split against the Bostonians since winning 3 of 6 games in 2019, and has not won a season series since taking 4 of 7 games from Boston in 2018…the Guards have not won a series against Boston since winning 2 of 3 from May 27-29, 2019 at Fenway Park…the Red Sox have won 14 of the last 21 contests since that series.

The Guardians are 5-5 in rubber matches this season and 3-3 at home…the club won its last rubber match on May 31 at Baltimore, a 12-8 shootout…Boston and Cleveland faced off in a rubber match on April 30 earlier this season, with the Sox winning the contest, 7-1…last season, Cleveland finished 8-6 in rubber matches with a 4-2 record at Progressive Field.

ARE YOU ENTITLED TO A STREAK? CALL JOSH & JOSH.
JOSH BELL has collected an RBI in 6 straight games, the longest such streak of his career and tying the American League high this season with TEX’s Corey Seager, TOR’s Daulton Varsho and SEA’s Jarred Kelenic…Bell drove in a run in 5 straight games from April 12-18 earlier this season… the last Guardians player to have an RBI in 7 straight games was Ryan Raburn from August 13-September 14, 2013…Yu Chang is the most recent Guardians player to drive in a run in 6-or-more consecutive games from August 24-September 2, 2021 (6G)…Bell has hit safely in 6 straight games, going 8-for-23 with one home and 8 RBI…has multiple RBI in 3 of his 6 games during this streak…JOSH NAYLOR and STEVEN KWAN are the only other Guardians players with 8 RBI over a 6-game span this season.

JOSH NAYLOR has hit safely in 7 consecutive games, tying the longest streak of his career from July 2-12, 2022…since May 30, Naylor has been one of the best hitters in baseball, hitting .538 (14- for-26), 2nd in MLB behind MIA’s Luis Arraez (.543, 19-for-35)… his 11 RBI over that stretch is T3rd in MLB with SD’s Fernando Tatís Jr…his 1.471 OPS during this 7-game stretch leads all MLB hitters…notched his 5th 3-hit game of the season and 17th of his career on Wednesday night.

TITO TERRIFIC
With the 5-2 victory Wednesday night, Guardians manager Terry Francona (1,902-1619) passed Gene Mauch for 14th-most wins in MLB history…he needs 25 more wins to pass Casey Stengel (1926-1867) for 13th all-time…among active managers, he ranks 3rd behind TEX’s Bruce Bochy (2,043-2,050) and HOU’s Dusty Baker (2,129-1,816).

From 2004-11, Francona served as manager for the Red Sox… in 8 seasons with Boston, Francona won two World Series (2004, 2007) and one AL East title (2007), while tallying a 744-552 (.574) overall record…amid his 11th season in Cleveland, Francona has made one World Series appearance (2016) and has won four AL Central titles (2016-18, 2022), while tallying an 873-704 (.554) overall record…the 64-year-old leader has a 28-36 record against Boston since taking over the helm for Cleveland in 2013.

RAMÍREZ RE-WRITING RECORD BOOKS » JOSÉ RAMÍREZ collected his 539th career extra-base hit with an RBI-double in the 5th frame last night, passing Ken Keltner (538) for 5th-most extra-base hits in Cleveland history…since 2018, Ramírez leads all MLB hitters with 350 extra-base hits…with one more double, he will pass Keltner (306) for 6th-most doubles in franchise history…he has 198 career home runs as a Clevelander, and is 3 homers away from passing Travis Hafner (200) for 9thmost in franchise history…he is 2 go-ahead RBI away from passing Carlos Santana (172) for 9th-most go-ahead RBI by a Cleveland hitter.

SPANISH RADIO RETURNS JUNE 9-11 VS. HOUSTON
Los Guardians Spanish Radio Broadcasts return vs. Houston June 9-11, available on The Gambler 1350AM in NE Ohio, WNZN 89.1FM in Lorain, and WHTX 1570AM/97.7FM in Warren and Youngstown…Los Guardians broadcasts feature Guards Hall of Famer Carlos Baerga providing the analysis alongside Rafa Hernández-Brito and Octavio Sequera who will be rotating playby-play duties…the broadcasts will also be available via the audio stream on MLB’s At-Bat app, via NEO Sports on the iHeart app.

TONIGHT’S STARTER – 43 AARON CIVALE RHP
CIVALE’S MLB CAREER
W-L ERA G GS IP H R ER BB SO
2023 1-1 2.04 3 3 17.2 15 4 4 4 12
Career 25-22 3.98 66 66 370.2 342 175 164 89 324

CIVALE AT HOME
W-L ERA G GS IP H R ER BB SO
2023 0-1 6.35 1 1 5.2 9 4 4 1 5
Career 13-12 4.30 30 30 165.1 164 87 79 42 162

TONIGHT’S START
The 27-year-old right-hander is making his fourth start of the 2023 season, second at home, in the finale of a 3-game series against the Boston Red Sox…made his first start last week since missing 46 games on the Injured List due to a strained left oblique…made 3 rehab starts at Triple-A Columbus, working up to 88 pitches in his last rehab start on May 28 vs. Indianapolis…is starting on 5 days of rest…is 7-6 with a 3.50 ERA (44ER/113.0IP) with 94 strikeouts and 19 walks in his career when pitching on 5 days rest.

LAST TIME OUT
In his first start back after missing 46 games due to a strained oblique, Civale did not factor into the decision in a 1-0 defeat against Minnesota at Target Field…he threw 5.0 scoreless innings with 4 strikeouts while allowing 4 hits and 2 walks on 83 pitches/56 strikes…after recording two groundouts to start the 1st, he allowed an Alex Kiriloff double, Jorge Solano walk, and a Max Kepler single to load the bases, but escaped the bases-loaded jam with a strikeout to end the frame…he retired 5 of 6 batters in the 2nd and 3rd innings, the lone blemish coming from a Kyle Farmer single… Civale escaped a jam in the 4th after a Solano single and Ryan Jeffers walk had runners on 2nd and 3rd for the Twins, but a lineout ended the inning..finished his outing with a 1-2-3 5th inning.

3 IS THE MAGIC NUMBER
For his career, Civale is 23-1 with a 3.19 ERA (75ER/211.1IP) with 43 walks and 184 strikeouts in games when he receives 3-ormore runs of support; Cleveland is 31-4 in such contests…on the contrary, he has a 2-21 record with a 5.03 ERA (89ER/159.1IP) with 46 walks and 140 strikeouts in games receiving 2-or-fewer runs of support; Cleveland has gone just 6-25 in those games.

BATTLING WITH BOSTON
Will be making his 2nd career start against Boston…his lone start against the Red Sox came at home on June 26, 2022, an 8-3 defeat at Progressive Field…he was charged with the loss after allowing 3 runs (earned) on 8 hits across 4.0 innings with 2 strikeouts and 4 walks (one intentional).

In 10 career starts against the AL East, he is 4-5 with a 5.77 ERA (34ER/53.0IP)…AL East teams are hitting .321 (68-for-212) against him…in 6 home starts against the division, he is 2-3 with a 6.19 ERA (22ER/32.0IP).

Civale, a Windsor, CT native, lives in Boston in the offseason and attended Northeastern University…the Red Sox were his favorite team growing up.

TURN UP THE AC
Among AL pitchers since last July (min. 70.0IP), Civale ranks in the top 5 with a 1.57 BB/9 (4th), 0.94 WHIP (4th), .248 OBP (4th) and a 5.46 SO/BB (5th)…the only two AL pitchers to rank in the top 5 in BB/9, WHIP, OBP and SO/BB since last July are Civale and New York-NL’s Justin Verlander, who played for Houston last season…Civale also ranks in the top 10 with a .581 OPS (7th).

FEVER PITCH
Civale has a 2.89 ERA in 8 June starts, his lowest ERA of any month…his .800 winning percentage in June is his highest winning percentage of any month (min. 3GS)…in his 8 June starts, he is holding hitters to a .241 average.

AARON CIVALE BY MONTH, CAREER
Month GS W-L ERA WHIP
April 11 5-3 4.75 1.19
May 9 5-3 4.11 1.18
June 8 4-1 2.89 1.21
July 4 1-1 3.15 1.15
August 15 3-8 3.24 0.98
Sept./Oct. 19 7-6 4.79 1.29

TROUBLE WITH THE CURVE
Civale’s curveball is holding hitters to a 1-for-15 (.067) clip this season, the 4th-lowest average of any MLB pitcher’s curveball (min. 15 PA)…in 2022, Civale’s curveball held opposing hitters to a .124 (13-for-105) clip, the 2nd-lowest average of any MLB pitcher’s curveball (min. 100 PA), behind TRISTON MCKENZIE, who held hitters to a .120 (19-for-158) clip.

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