GAME #44, TEXAS RANGERS AT BOSTON RED SOX

[Bear]

RANGERS V RED SOX

TUESDAY, MAY 23, 2017, 7PM AT FENWAYPARK

TV:  NESN, FSSW

TEXAS, ( 24-21)....................................................................BOSTON, (22-21)

TEXAS:

ANDREW CASHNER, RHP, 1-3, 2.45ERA, 19K

Cashner will be pitching against the Red Sox for the first time in his career.  He is
1-0 with a 1.89ERA in his last three starts after a 9-3 win over the Phillies on Wednesday.
He is 0-2 with a 3.12ERA in three starts on the road.

BOSTON:

RICK PORCELLO, RHP, 2-5, 4.23ERA, 56K

The reigning AL Cy Young Award winner is still trying to recapture his
dominant form of 2016.  In his last start against the Cardinals, Porcello gave
up four runs on nine hits and three walks with six strikeouts.

Cashner faces Porcello in opener at Fenway

T. R. Sullivan

DETROIT -- Rangers right-hander Andrew Cashner will be making his first career start at Fenway Park when he faces right-hander Rick Porcello and the Red Sox in the first of a three-game series Tuesday night.

First baseman Mitch Moreland is expected to be in the lineup for the Red Sox as he faces his old team for the first time since leaving as a free agent after last season.

"It'll be kind of bittersweet," Moreland said. "Obviously I still have a lot of friends and people over there that I care about and check on. It'll be good to see those guys and I'll be a lot of fun to compete against them."
Cashner is coming off his first win of the season. He allowed two runs in seven innings in a 9-3 victory over the Phillies on Wednesday in Arlington.

Cashner has had trouble against leadoff hitters in an inning. They are hitting .306 off him and his seven leadoff walks are the fourth most in the Majors. But opponents are hitting .103 off him with runners on base and .074 with runners in scoring position.

Porcello is off to a slow start after winning the American League Cy Young Award last season, and one reason is he hasn't been as tough against right-handed hitters. They are hitting .314 with a .504 slugging percentage off him this year as opposed to .235 with a .396 slugging percentage last season.

Porcello is 5-4 with a 5.69 ERA in nine starts against the Rangers. That's the ninth-highest ERA among active pitchers with at least five starts against them.

THINGS TO WATCH FOR

• Red Sox designated hitter Hanley Ramirez will be glad to get back to Fenway Park. As of Sunday, he was hitting .329 at Fenway, the eighth-highest home average in the American League. He was hitting .167 on the road.

• Mike Napoli has played in 44 career games against the Red Sox with a .260 batting average. He also has a .639 slugging percentage that is the highest among active players with at least 100 at-bats against them. His 9.13 at-bats per home run (146/16) is also the best among active players and tied all-time with Dave Kingman.

• Mookie Betts has a career .362 average in 13 games against the Rangers. He has hit safely in 12 of those 13 games with at least two hits in eight of them.

http://m.mlb.com/news/article/20170521231583878/cashner-faces-porcello-in-opener-at-fenway/?game_pk=490785

[Bear]

ED SOX LINEUP:

Jen McCaffrey‏

Red Sox vs. TEX:

Betts RF,
Pedroia 2B,
Bogaerts SS,
Benintendi LF,
Ramirez DH,
Moreland 1B,
Bradley Jr. CF,
Leon C,
Marrero 3B,

Porcello RHP

[Bill-806]

   At last at last, our  Red Sox are coming home.......  All be it  3-3 on the trip !! iono

[SeaBeachFred]

   At last at last, our  Red Sox are coming home.......  All be it  3-3 on the trip !! iono

After this disastrous road trip the Red Sox must try to find their way home with a good home stand, something that seems more remote with each new series.  As of right now Farrell is still the manager which is two strikes right there, and with Porcello throwing poorly we need to start hitting consistently to put runs on the scoreboard and not limit ourselves to one offensive outburst for every five games as we have done.  Losing three of four to Oakland was horrific but the crappy way we played was enough to most of you realize as I do that this team is crappy to the core and the first thing that must occur is a change at the top;  Minus that we might be looking at 2014-15 all over again.  Don't laugh my friends, we're already on the way there unless something happens real quickly.

[Bill-806]

   At last at last, our  Red Sox are coming home.......  All be it  3-3 on the trip !! iono

After this disastrous road trip the Red Sox must try to find their way home with a good home stand, something that seems more remote with each new series.  As of right now Farrell is still the manager which is two strikes right there, and with Porcello throwing poorly we need to start hitting consistently to put runs on the scoreboard and not limit ourselves to one offensive outburst for every five games as we have done.  Losing three of four to Oakland was horrific but the crappy way we played was enough to most of you realize as I do that this team is crappy to the core and the first thing that must occur is a change at the top;  Minus that we might be looking at 2014-15 all over again.  Don't laugh my friends, we're already on the way there unless something happens real quickly.

  Yum yum, CHICKEN & BEER  thumb_u

[ipot]

It starts with Rick Porcello figuring out whether last season was an anomaly. 
His WHIP this season is 1.41.

That's half the battle.  Then Farrell needs to change the strategy of "we score 3 runs a game." 

500 is as 500 does.

[Bill-806]

  Change is in the air at Boston's FENWAY PARRRK !!! thumb_u

[Bill-806]

  Change is in the air at Boston's FENWAY PARRRK !!! thumb_u

Sam Travis is on the road to Fenway Parrrk....  Right handed hitting 1st baseman, kills left handed pitching ..  His  great, great, g, g, g,  grandfather was at the ALAMO  thumb_u

[markj]

Sox with a chance to open the game up here.

[markj]

Bad base running by Ben Nintendo. Sox get three runs, but could have been a lot more.

[elktonnick]

Ben thinks he is faster than he is.  But even though they score a crooked number they aren't driving the ball.  They haven't hit anything off the wall.

[markj]

Argh. No one on this team can throw a baseball worth a crap.  slap sigh

[elktonnick]

More fundamental mistakes.

[markj]

A mistake by the Rangers gives the Sox a couple of runs. Sweet.

[markj]

There's another. One more run in.