This Monday the (48-45) Cleveland Guardians and the (48-47) Boston Red Sox will play game one of their four-game series. The first pitch will be thrown out at 7:10 PM EST inside Fenway Park. This is also the second series between these two teams this regular season, as the Red Sox swept the Guardians in their first three-game series.
The Cleveland Guardians are coming into this one after a tough series against the Chicago White Sox. They won the first two games, but struggle in the second half of the series. They lost by one in game three, as the Guardians must be better in the field and on the mound if they want to avoid another tough loss.
The Boston Red Sox are entering this one after a miserable series against the Toronto Blue Jays. Boston lost the first two games of that series, as they gave up 28 runs in game one. They have to be better on the mound if they want to avoid another embarrassi ng loss like that one.
This game was written/published before last night's results.
The Cleveland Guardians have looked solid over the past few weeks, as they are currently (7-3) in their last 10 games. They are slowly crawling back into the playoff picture and doing their best to stay hot. They are only 1.5 games back from the Twins for first place in the AL Central. They will need to continue their strong play if they want to keep climbing up the standings. At the plate, they are scoring 4.45 runs per game and hitting .251 as a team. This is the 15th most runs scored per game and the ninth highest overall team batting average. They have also shown that they can score multiple ways in these games. They can string together hits or they can use their power to clear the bases. Cleveland is averaging .80 home runs per game. The Guardians have also been very aggressive on the base paths, as they have already taken 55 bases this season. This is the 12th most in the MLB and I wouldn't be surprised if they attempted for a few more in this one.
In the field, the Guardians still have some work to do. They are currently allowing 4.33 runs per game and they have the 24th highest overall team fielding percentage. They have struggled in the field, as they have tended to kick the ball around inside the infield. They have already committed 56 fielding errors, which is the 20th most in the league. They can't continue to make these mistakes and still expect to win these games.
According to MLB.com, the Guardians will be starting Zach Plesac on the mound. He has had his struggles this season, as he is currently (2-7) with a 4.02 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP. In his last start, he wasn't able to pitch deep into the game, as he allowed six hits and two earned runs to the Tigers in 3.2 innings pitched. They had his number early and he just couldn't find a groove. He is also (1-5) on the road this season, as he hasn't performed well in opposing teams' ballparks.