There are just two series left in July, which means just two series wins for the Red Sox to make a clean sweep of the month. Not since the end of June, when Boston dropped two-of-three to the Phillies, has the team lost a series. They've taken out the Astros, Blue Jays, Orioles, Rays, Orioles again, and now the Mariners en route to a 16-3 record on the month that has the Sox three games up in the East, and well above the Wild Card chase.
Still, there are games to be won, and no team can take any lead for granted until the magic number gets much closer to zero. So with that in mind, the Red Sox are more than happy to welcome the cellar-dwelling Royals to town.
Since peaking in mid-May, the Royals have been in a state of free fall, quickly finding themselves at the bottom of one of baseball's weakest divisions. There's no question as to why, either: the pitching. It's not quite as bad as the Orioles' bunch that the Sox have feasted on in recent weeks, but it's the next best thing in the American League. So while this may not be as much of a walk in the park for the Sox' staff as the Mariners series was, it shouldn't be much of a problem for the Sox on the whole.
Boston Red Sox (62-37) vs. Kansas City Royals (42-59)
Monday, July 25, 7:10 p.m.
NESN
Jon Lester (10-4, 3.31 ERA) vs. Kyle Davies (1-9, 7.32 ERA)
Tueday, July 26, 7:10 p.m.
NESN
Andrew Miller (4-1, 4.65 ERA) vs. Danny Duffy (2-4, 4.58 ERA)
Wednesday, July 27, 7:10 p.m.
NESN
John Lackey (8-8, 6.28 ERA) vs. Bruce Chen (5-3, 3.30 ERA)
Thursday, July 28, 1:35 p.m.
NESN
Josh Beckett (9-3, 2.07 ERA) vs. Luke Hochevar (6-8, 5.29 ERA)