GAME #111, CHICAGO WHITE SOX AT BOSTON RED SOX

[Bear]

WHITE SOX V RED SOX

SATURDAY, AUGUST 5,2017, 7 PM AT FENWAY PARK

TV:  NESN, CSN-C

CHICAGO, (41-66)...............................................................................................BOSTON, (61-49)

CHICAGO:

JAMES SHIELDS, RHP, 2-3, 6.19 ERA, 44K

Shields allowed three homers on Monday--the third time he'd done so since coming
off the DL on June 18--but he was still a fly-ball dropping away from a quality start.  He
had a 9.00 ERA in five July starts.

BOSTON:

DREW POMERANZ, LHP, 10-4, 3.96 ERA, 119K

Pomeranz has made a real case as of late to be the Red Sox No. 2 pitcher in a potential
playoff rotation.  The left-hander has won his last four decisions, and hasn't earned a loss
since June 11.  Pomeranz won his only other start against the White Sox.

Pomeranz, on roll, faces struggling Shields

Quinn Roberts

If the month of August is anything like July for Drew Pomeranz, he'll have plenty to smile about. The Red Sox left-hander, who went 3-0 with a 2.73 ERA, looks to continue that success against James Shields and the White Sox on Saturday at Fenway Park.

He turned in a strong outing against the Royals on Sunday, giving up one run on seven hits over 6 2/3 innings for a no-decision.

"I felt pretty good out there," said Pomeranz after the start. "I felt like I had a pretty good mix of pitches. I was getting some early contact."

Pomeranz had his best start of the season on May 31 against the White Sox, allowing one run on seven hits in a season-high seven innings for the win.

Shields is winless in his last five starts with a 9.00 ERA. He struggled on Monday against the Blue Jays, allowing a season-high six runs on eight hits in six innings for the no-decision.

Shields has struggled at Fenway throughout his career, going 2-9 with a 5.42 ERA in 14 starts. That marks his lowest win percentage (.182) at any ballpark with more than three starts.

THREE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT THIS GAME

• Joe Kelly is expected to rejoin the Red Sox's bullpen on Saturday. Kelly has been on the 10-day disabled list since July 15 with a left hamstring strain.

• Matt Davidson, who was hit by a pitch by Blue Jays right-hander Marcus Stroman on Tuesday and left early with a bruised right wrist, was feeling better Friday and could be back in the White Sox lineup on Saturday.

• Eduardo Nunez is hitting .500 (13-for-26) with three home runs and four RBIs vs. Shields.

http://m.mlb.com/news/article/20170804246443934/pomeranz-on-roll-faces-struggling-shields/?game_pk=491740

[Bear]

Red Sox v. Shields:

Betts RF,
Holt 2B,
Benintendi LF,
Nuñez SS,
Devers 3B,
Young DH,
Moreland 1B,
Vazquez C,
Bradley Jr. CF,

Pomeranz LHP

[Bill-806]

Red Sox v. Shields:

Betts RF,
Holt 2B,
Benintendi LF,
Nuñez SS,
Devers 3B,
Young DH,
Moreland 1B,
Vazquez C,
Bradley Jr. CF,

Pomeranz LHP

  I like this lineup !!!!  All good STICKS and they are all HEALTHY ( Maybe Morelands toe is still an issue)  ..... Go SOX score some runs !!!

[elktonnick]

Bogaerts needs the rest.  He still doesn't look right at the plate.

[markj]

AB gets back the solo dinger plus one.

[markj]

JBJ duplicates AB's dinger. Same place more or less, also 2-run, also his 13th. Sox up 4-1.

[markj]

Second error between the wickets tonight. One for each team.

[markj]

Outta that jam. Nice. Pomeranz with another decent outing. BP needs to hold this one.

[Schloicka]

Pomerantz pitched well. Hopefully the pen can hold it.

[Schloicka]

Nice tag by Holt at 2nd base.

[markj]

Nice tag by Holt at 2nd base.

Yep, good play there.

[markj]

Hopefully no drama from Kimbrel tonight.

[markj]

Kimbrel shuts it down. Nice job. Good game. Need to finish the sweep tomorrow.

[Schloicka]

Easy game tonight. And it was short time wise. On to Sunday.

[SeaBeachFred]

Easy game tonight. And it was short time wise. On to Sunday.

Let me tell you what I liked about tonight's game.

1. We won
2. Pomeranz pitched another good game
3. We blasted two two run bombs in the first and second inning to get us going.
4. The bullpen did it's job well.

What I didn't like about the game.

1.  We got only five hits---and that makes me wonder.  I hope we are not about  to go into another offensive drought again.  We cannot afford to do that.  Both Nunez and Devers went 0 for 4, a rare bad day for both, but it shows just how valuable those two have been because without them we seemed to get five or six hits too many times to count and mostly with very bad results.  Please, no more of that.