Just when it looked like the Boston Red Sox were closing the gap on the New York Yankees in the race for the first American League wild-card spot, a bump in the road hit. New York took three out of four from Boston two weekends ago in the Bronx to go four games clear for home-field advantage in the wild-card round in less than three weeks.
However, after beating the Los Angeles Angels on Monday night at Fenway Park in the opener, the Red Sox dropped the last two games to the last-place team in the AL West. If there was a team that needed an off day on Thursday, it’s Boston.
“We talked about the other two gauntlets [on the schedule earlier in the season], with this being the last one where you can finally reach the three off-days over the course of the next 10 days or two weeks,” said Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy, per Ian Browne of MLB.com. “That’s helpful from the standpoint of rest for everybody that’s active, and also rest days for the guys who we’re trying to get back. So yeah, I think have a good rest day and come back ready to go on Friday against Kansas City.”
When they comeback to play the Royals, they will do so sending their top three pitchers to the mound.
Boston Red Sox Announce Starters Against Kansas City Royals
The loss on Wednesday night has Boston four games back of the Yankees for the first wild-card spot. It’s actually five if you include the tiebreaker, the season-series New York clinched last month. Anyway, here are the probable pitching matchups against Kansas City.
Friday: Seth Lugo (6-8, 5.04 ERA) vs. Sonny Gray (17-4, 2.69 ERA), 7:10 p.m.
Saturday: Randy Dobnak (3-3, 2.544 ERA) vs. Ranger Suárez (6-4, 3.44 ERA), 4:10 p.m.
Sunday: Noah Cameron (9-8, 3.93 ERA) vs. Payton Tolle (9-6, 3.15 ERA), 1:35 p.m.
If there is a time to roll out your three best arms, it’s this series after a day off. Losing two out of three to the Angels is not what Tracy was expecting to do, but Patrick Sandoval and Jake Bennett were hit and hit hard. One bright side was Roman Anthony, who hit his third home run since returning on Aug. 30 from his injury. He sounded like someone who could use a day off too.
“Yeah, take advantage of the off day tomorrow for sure. Rest a little bit and get back to it,” said Anthony, per Browne. “But the mentality stays the same. Just kind of show up and do anything that we can to win a ballgame. Definitely reset after a tough series, and then get back and try to win a series again.”
Boston Red Sox Look To Close Out Homestand With Series Win Over Royals
Losing a series to Kansas City would be another series loss late in the season that can’t happen. Boston is banged up and could get first baseman Willson Contreras back this weekend, while Gold Glove outfielder Ceddanne Rafaela remains on the injured list.
The Royals will begin the series with just 65 wins, nine more than the Angels, but they have played spoiler lately with the Miami Marlins and Toronto Blue Jays. They will look to do the same to the Red Sox.
Boston Red Sox Announce Probable Starters Against Kansas City Royals