LOS ANGELES DODGERS NOTES:
TONIGHT’S STARTER at RED SOX: RHP LANCE LYNN (9-9, 5.60 ERA in 25 GS)
2023 SEASON NOTES:
- In his third start for the Blue Crew on August 15 against the Brewers, he fired seven scoreless innings, allowing four hits and one walk, while punching out three in the no decision…was traded from the White Sox alongside teammate Joe Kelly on July 28
- Over 25 starts, the Indiana native owns a 9-9 record with a 5.60 ERA (90 ER/144.2 IP) with 169 strikeouts against 50 walks and has generated a 1.36 WHIP
- Tossed a career-high 16 strikeouts on June 18 against Seattle
- Notched his first win of the season on May 5 against Cincinnati, spinning 6.2 innings and giving up eight hits, four runs, a homer and eight strikeouts
- Has fired 6.0+ strikeouts in 14 out of his 21 starts this season
- Pitched in four spring training games with the White Sox, going 2-0 with a 1.09 ERA (7 ER/14.2 IP)
VS. RED SOX:
- Will face Boston for the tenth time in his career…is 2-1 with a 2.36 ERA (13 ER/49.2 IP) and 44 strikeouts against 14 walks
- Last faced the club on June 24, 2023 with the white Sox, spinning 5.2 innings and giving up six hits, three runs and one walk while striking out seven in the no decision
BOSTON RED SOX NOTES:
STATE OF THE SOX: The Red Sox have won 5 of their last 7 games…They’re 10-5 in their last 15 and 17-13 in their last 30. The Sox are 28-18 (.609) in their last 46 games since 6/30, MLB’s 6th-best record in that time (3rd in AL). At 68-60 (.531), the Sox own MLB’s 11th-best record.
YESTERDAY’S NEWS: The Red Sox defeated the Astros yesterday in Houston, 17-1…They set season highs in runs, hits (24), and victory margin, while their 9 XBH and 6 BB were 1 shy of their season highs. It marked the 13th time the Sox have ever recorded as many as 24 hits in a game, and just the 2nd since the start of 2006 (also 26 hits on 8/15/2015 vs. SEA). It was the 8th time they’ve ever scored as many as 17 runs while allowing 1 or 0 (previous: 7/15/2005 vs. NYY, 17-1).
ALL TOGETHER NOW: Yesterday at HOU, all 9 starters in the Red Sox’ lineup reached base multiple times and recorded at least 1 RBI…All 9 collected a hit within the First 3 innings. It was just the 3rd time in Red Sox history that all 9 batters in the starting lineup reached base multiple times and recorded an RBI, and 1st time they’ve done so on the road (also 7/14/1997 vs. DET and 6/28/1973 vs. CLE-G2).
THREE WISE MEN: Three Red Sox players recorded 4+ hits and a home run yesterday at HOU: Alex Verdugo (4-for-7, 2 R, HR, 2 RBI), Wilyer Abreu (4-for-5, 2 R, 2B, HR, 4 RBI, BB), and Connor Wong (4-for-6, 4 R, 2B, HR, 2 RBI). They became just the 3rd trio of Red Sox teammates to ever record 4+ hits and a home run in a game (see below).
SERIES BUSINESS: The Red Sox are 3-1-1 in their last 5 series…At 22-16-3, they have already matched their series win total from 2022 (22-24-6). BOS split a 4-game series at HOU from Monday-Thursday, their 3rd series tie of 2023 (also at ATL, at MIN). Since the start of July, Boston in 6-1-0 in home series.
HOME COOKING: The Sox tonight begin a 6-game homestand against LAD (78-48) and HOU (72-57). Boston is 14-6 in its last 20 home games and 35-28 overall, compared to 33-32 on the road. At home, the Sox lead the majors in AVG (.286) and OBP (.351)…They also rank 3rd in SLG (.463) and OPS (.814), and 4th in runs scored per game (5.3).
SOX & DODGERS: Boston is 9-9 against the Dodgers since Interleague play began in 1997, including 6-3 at Fenway Park. The clubs last met in July 2019, when LAD defeated the Sox, 2-1, in a 3-game series in Boston from 7/12-14.
EAST VS. WEST: The Red Sox are in a stretch of 13 straight games against teams outside of the AL East. Boston is 47-28 (.627) vs. the NL West since the start of 2010, and 67-47 (.588) all time. The Sox won their first 2 series against NL West teams this season (2-1 at SD, 2-1 at ARI), but lost their last 2 (1-2 vs. COL, 1-2 at SF).
SLUGGING SOX: The Red Sox have homered in each of their last 13 games (21 total HR), their longest streak since August 2019 (19 games, 8/7-30). The Sox have homered in 20 of their 21 August games, after homering in only 16 of their previous 28 games. BOS has hit 15 HR in their last 8 games, 2nd most in MLB during that span (beginning 8/17) behind PHI (16).
ON THE OFFENSIVE: Boston leads MLB in doubles (280)… Among AL teams, they rank 2nd in AVG (.265) and XBH (444), and 3rd in OBP (.331), SLG (.437), and OPS (.768).
The Sox have recorded at least 9 hits in a season-hightying 8 consecutive games (also 6/30-7/8)…They’re batting .317 with a .382 OBP and .913 OPS in that span.
SCORING IN BUNCHES: The Red Sox have scored multiple runs in an inning at least once in each of their last 11 games (20 multi-run innings in that time). Yesterday, Boston scored 1 run in the 1st inning, 4 in the 2nd, 6 in the 3rd, 2 in the 8th, and 4 in the 9th. They’ve scored 3+ runs in at least 1 inning in 7 of their last 8 games…Since 6/1, they are 28-3 in games when they score 3+ runs in at least 1 inning.
RISPY BUSINESS: The Sox went 14-for-33 (.424 AVG) with RISP in the last 2 games at HOU, after going 4-for-28 (.143 AVG) during the first 2 games of the series. Overall with RISP, Boston ranks 2nd in MLB in hits (320) and OBP (.358), and ranks 3rd in AVG (.282).
HIGH FIVE: The Red Sox are an MLB-best 55-8 (.873) when scoring 5+ runs…They’ve done so in 8 of their last 11 games, compared to just 2 of their previous 10. Since 6/14, the Sox are 28-2 when scoring 5+ runs.
LOCK IT DOWN: Boston owns MLB’s best record when leading after 6 innings (52-3, .945)…In 2022, they ranked 18th in MLB when leading after 6 (63-10, .863). The Red Sox rank 2nd in MLB in save % (77.6; 38-for-49), after ranking 24th last season (57.4; 39-for-68).
CLOSING ACT: Kenley Jansen has converted each of his last 20 save opportunities since 5/20, MLB’s 2nd-longest active streak behind TOR’s Jordan Romano (21).
Since 6/9, Chris Martin has allowed only 1 run over his last 28 outings (25.1 IP); he ranks 2nd in MLB with a 0.36 ERA in that span (min. 20.0 IP).
NO TIME TO REST: The Red Sox went 6-4 on their season-long 10-game road trip (1-2 at WSH, 3-0 at NYY, 2-2 at HOU). The Sox are in a stretch of 32 games in 34 days (7/28- 8/30)…That includes a stretch of 16 consecutive days with a game from 8/15-30.
STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE: 24 of Boston’s remaining 34 games will be against teams that currently have a winning record (BAL-7, TB-5, HOU-3, TEX-3, TOR-3, LAD-3). BOS is 35-34 against teams with a current record of .500 or better, and 33-26 against teams below .500.
TONIGHT’S STARTER: 50 KUTTER CRAWFORD – RHP
W-L ERA G GS IP ER HR BB SO WHIP AVG
2023 6-6 3.66 24 16 96.0 39 15 24 94 1.09 .226
CAREER 9-13 4.67 46 29 175.1 91 28 55 173 1.27 .250
Is making his 1st career appearance against the Dodgers. Earned his 6th win of the season on Saturday at NYY (6.0 IP, H, R, 2 BB, 5 SO)…Held the Yankees hitless through 5.1 innings before allowing a solo HR to Aaron Judge. Has a 3.25 ERA in his last 11 starts since 6/20 (20 ER/55.1 IP). Owns a 2.06 ERA, 0.90 WHIP, and .194 opponent AVG on the road (56.2 IP), compared to a 5.95 ERA, 1.37 WHIP, and .266 opponent AVG at home (39.1 IP). Opponents have hit .174 vs. his 4-seam fastball (20-for-115), which ranks 8th of 146 in MLB (min. 100 PA ending with 4-seam fastball). Ranks in MLB’s 75th percentile or higher in chase rate (89th), walk rate (81st), fastball spin (90th), and expected opponent average (82nd).
