Don’t allow homers tonight. Let’s try that.
Another day, another humiliation by the pitching. They must have replaced Andrew Bailey with Barnum and Bailey given the circus on display game after game. But seriously. What has gone wrong since the All Star Break? If the Red Sox fall out of it with another big pitching collapse is the pitching coach heading out of the big top? I may not have enough circus references for this.
Luckily Nick Pivetta is here to save the day! Pivetta has given up two home runs in each of his last three starts. And aside from a meltdown in Colorado he’s been, actually, kinda fine. If in a Pivetta style that isn’t super impressive. The way the season has played out he hasn’t seen the Orioles yet so maybe Baltimore won’t be ready for his Andrew Bailey enhanced pitches this first time around.
Zach Eflin, who spurred the Red Sox pursuit in free agency and selected, of all teams, the Tampa Bay Rays. Tampa Bay flipped in the division to Baltimore a few days before the deadline for not very much. Could Breslow have matched this instead of claiming James Paxton off waivers? Who can say. He allowed 3 runs in 5.0 innings in his lone start against Boston this season back in May. Three runs probably won’t do it these days for the Sox pitching but, hey, maybe they can really light him up and Pivetta will pull out that eight-straight-strikeout game again.
First pitch is at 6:35 PM ET on WEEI and NESN.