After a lengthy slump during the month of June, the Boston Red Sox have returned to their mashing ways, racking up an 11-3 record during the month of July. They'll have a perfect opportunity to add four more wins to those eleven victories as they face the woeful Minnesota Twins, the cellar squad of the A.L. Central Division. Retiring slugger David Ortiz will face his old team one final time in a four-game set in the middle of a nine-game homestand. Knuckleballer Steven Wright takes the mound opposite Minnesota's Tyler Duffey.
Steven Wright looking to re-establish prior dominance
In the first two and a half months of the season, Wright was the unexpected ace of the Boston rotation, boasting a 2.01 ERA on June 20, and picking up the slack for the Red Sox rotation that was a mess throught the first half of the season. However, since then, Wright has not looked as sharp. Despite accumulating a 3-1 record in his last four starts, Wright has an ugly 6.23 ERA, and he looks to fix himself against the lowly Twins, who he held to one run over 7 1/3 innings earlier this season. He'll look to use his knuckleball to dazzle the Twins again and lower his ERA, which has climbed to 2.77. a season-high mark.
Boston offense hopes to continue their mashing ways
Although the Red Sox got off to a 3-1 start in their first four games after the All-Star break, it was largely due to their pitching, which accumulated a 2.03 ERA in the first 35 innings after the Mid-Summer Classic. The offense, coming into Wednesday's game against the San Francisco Giants, had actually only scored 17 runs over four games, which, while pretty good, was certainly not up to their usual standards.
However, the Sox woke up on Wednesday, lighting up the scoreboard for eleven runs, including five home runs. They have a chance to really get on a hot streak against these Twins, who feature a league-worst 4.88 ERA. The Twins have announced three of their four starters for the series, and not one of those hurlers have an ERA under 5, giving the Red Sox a prime opportunity to really get their bats going, heading into a three-game set with the Detroit Tigers.
Ortiz will want to leave a lasting memory on the Twins, and one last regret for the Twins to have on letting him walk into free agency almost fifteen years ago. He will lead the Boston offense, joined by Hanley Ramirez, who recorded his first multi-home run game since last season on Wednesday night, Travis Shaw, who also went deep on Wednesday, the streaking Brock Holt, hitting almost .400 in July, the continually surprising Sandy Leon, Dustin Pedroia, and Boston's trio of young All-Stars - Mookie Betts, Xander Bogaerts, and Jackie Bradley Jr.
Twins look to win third straight
Little has gone right for the Twins this season, who have a worst pitching staff in the American League, as well as the 12th-worst offense, but they will ride a mini-streak coming into the four-game set with the Sox. They took the last two of three games from the Wild-Card contending Detroit Tigers and hope that a rare bright spot in their dismal season will spark them as they head into Fenway Park. Their lone All-Star Eduardo Nunez leads the offensive attack for the Twins as their lone .300 hitter, entering the game hitting at a .312 clip. And if Nunez can manage to spark the offense for the Twins, they'll turn to a battered pitching staff to hold the lead. Duffey gets the start, entering the game with an ugly 5.23 ERA. If he can turn in a solid start against the booming Red Sox bats, the Twins will be able to give the ball to their best pitchers on their roster.
If he makes it through the weekend still in a Twins' uniform, Fernando Abad has been the Twins' most reliable reliever, accumulating solid numbers, with a 2.73 ERA. However, being a veteran hurler on a non-contender, Abad is likely to be shipped out of Minnesota before the trade deadline. Whether he is at Fenway Park for the entire weekend is questionable. Besides Abad, Brandon Kintzler and Taylor Rogers have ERAs of 2.28 and 2.59 respectively in over 28 and 27 appearances, representing some of the most reliable arms the Twins will feature in their visit to Fenway.
The statistics and standings say the Red Sox should have an easy series win, and possibly a rare four-game sweep this weekend, but the stats don't always tell it everything. The Twins have won a couple straight and would be more than happy than be spoilers for the Boston Red Sox, who are looking for an easy four games to boost their standing in the A.L. East.