After another series win against the New York Yankees, the Red Sox are back on the road, heading into Minnesota to face the Twins for the first time since early May.
While the Sox will be feeling pretty good after their walk-off victory against the Bronx Bombers, it's still been a relatively tough week for Boston. Despite a 4-3 record in the period (which, to be fair, would be a 93-win pace on its own), the Sox' lineup has had some clear difficulties against pitchers they might not have expected to struggle against. While they hammered C.C. Sabathia on Saturday, the feast-or-famine offense seems to be back in full force, with that 10-run explosion being surrounded by outputs of just two or three runs.
The Twins are in even more dire straits than usual these days, having dropped eight of their last ten games against the Angels, White Sox, and Athletics. And if the Red Sox' feast-or-famine act is bad, theTwins' is quite a bit worse. They scored 20 total runs in their last pair of wins on July 29 and August 3, and in the seven losses over the same period, produced all of 12. Just as problematic has been their pitching, which has been consistent in its mediocrity, only once allowing as few as four runs in that nine-game period.
We'll see if the Twins' pitching can solve the Boston offense's inconsistencies, or if the up-and-down ride will continue for the Red Sox.
Boston Red Sox (70-43) vs. Minessota Twins (51-63)
Monday, August 8, 7:10 p.m.
NESN/ESPN
Tim Wakefield (6-4, 4.99 ERA) vs.Scott Baker (8-6, 3.01 ERA)
Tuesday, August 9, 8:10 p.m.
NESN
Erik Bedard (4-7, 3.55 ERA) vs. Francisco Liriano (7-9, 5.03 ERA)
Wednesday, August 10, 8:10 p.m.
NESN
Jon Lester (11-5, 3.23 RA) vs. Nick Blackburn (7-9, 4.58 ERA)