This Wednesday the (52-52) Boston Red Sox and the (67-37) Houston Astros will play the final game of this three-game series against one another. The first pitch will be thrown out at 8:10 PM EST inside Minute Maid Park. This is also the second time these two teams have matched up, as the Red Sox won the first series between these two teams and the first game of this series.
The Boston Red Sox are coming into this one after losing two out of three games to the Milwaukee Brewers. Boston struggled at the plate in that series, as they only scored five combined runs in their two losses. They must be better at the plate if they want to avoid dropping this last game to the Astros.
The Houston Astros are entering this one after winning three out of four games against the Seattle Mariners. The Astros looked great on the mound and in the field, as they only surrendered five combined runs in their three wi ns. They will need their defense and pitching to stay top-notch if they want to challenge the Red Sox in the final game of this series.
This game was written/published before last night's results.
The Boston Red Sox are currently in dead last place in the AL east, as they have struggled to string together wins this season. They are also (4-6) in their last 10, as they have a long way to go before they are back in the playoff hunt. The Red Sox also just trade for Tommy Pham, but they had to give up Christian Vasquez. At the plate, the Red Sox are scoring 4.57 runs per game and they are hitting .254 as a team. This is the 13th most runs scored per game and the sixth highest overall team batting average, as they have shown that they can consistently reach base, they just have very little power and they have struggled when they have men in scoring position. The Red Sox are only hitting .98 home runs per game, which is the 20th lowest overall average in the league. They are struggling to score multiple different ways, as they can string together hits, but they just can't find that one big hit that will allow them to pull away from the ir opponents. I also expect the Red Sox to stay fairly conservative on the base paths, as they have only taken 39 bases this season, which is the 24th least in the MLB. They allow their bats to move runners into scoring position, as they don't have a ton of speed inside their lineup.
In the field, the Red Sox have been up and down this season, as well. They are currently allowing the 24th least amount of runs per game, as their opponents are finding different ways to beat them. The Red Sox have already committed 63 fielding errors this season, as they continue to make mistakes that allow their opponents to have second or third chances to score. Boston also has the 21st lowest overall team fielding percentage, as they must clean up these errors to give themselves a better chance of winning these games.
According to MLB.com, the Red Sox will start Brayan Bello on the mound. He has started this season (0-3) and he has a 8.82 ERA. He als o has a 2.27 WHIP, as his opponents have been easily reaching base against him. He is missing the strike zone consistently, as well. In his past three starts he has given up a combined 12 runs and hasn't pitched past the fifth inning. He hasn't had it rolling and he will be looking to bounce back in this one.