The Rockies will be taking on the Boston Red Sox today and putting an end to a road trip that has not been very kind to them. Heading into the game today the Rockies are just 2-6 on the trip so they are lloking forward to getting back to Coors Field tomorrow to take on the Mets in a makeup game from one that was postponed earlier in the year. The Rockies were beaten 11-4 yesterday against the Red Sox in a game that saw the Rockies pitching staff give up 20 hits to the opposition. Juan Nicasio took the loss in the game in what was one of the worst starts of the year for the Rockies pitcher. Today's game will wrap up the short two game stop in Boston.
Roy Oswalt will be making his second start as a member of the Rockies when he takes the hill today against the Red Sox. Oswalt had an up and down debut for the Rockies as he took the loss but had 11 strikeouts on the day against the Washington Nationals. He lasted only five innings giving up nine hits, four runs and did not walk any batters. After the game Oswalt even admitted that he may have had too many strikeouts on the day as he was hoping to work later into the ballgame, which is something that he has vowed to improve upon moving forward. He looked like the old Roy Oswalt who was a three time all star during the prime of his career. His fastball worked between 92-94 and it had great movement on it which was something that had decreased in his last few years of work in Philadelphia and Texas. The location of his pitches was good for the most part and even though he gave up a fair number of hits on the day, you could tell that he was getting back into the swing of pitching at the Major League level. He also showed that he still has one of the better 12-6 curveballs in the game of baseball. It is a devastating pitch to both right and left handed batters and is something that he will use to not only get outs but also induce weak ground balls and pop ups when needed. Only two Red Sox players have seen Oswalt for more than a few at bats and those players are Stephen Drew and Shane Victorino. Drew is 9-21 against him with three doubles and one RBI. Victorino is 5-15 in his career against Oswalt with one double. Oswalt will be looking to continue his development and show improvement on his last start. He will be trying to control the counts and work deeper into the game. He will also be looking to limit the amount of base runners that he faces and decrease the amount of hits that he allows. If he can do that then he will have a very good chance at picking up his first victory as a member of the Rockies.
John Lackey will be taking the hill for the Red Sox and will have the task of facing off against the talented Rockies offense. On the year Lackey is 4-5 with a good 3.03 ERA. He took a no decision in his last game out against the Tigers when he went seven innings allowing seven hits, two runs, one walk and struck out five. Lackey has not lost a game in nearly a month but he has not received much run support so he has been unable to improve his record by very much during that span. Current Rockies hitters have a combined .306 average against Lackey in 49 at bats. Michael Cuddyer has had the most success off of him as he is 6-19 with three home runs and five RBI in their career match ups. Lackey will be trying to contain Cuddyer and end his hitting streak at 22 games but he knows that will be a tough task as Michael Cuddyer has been swinging one of the hottest bats in all of baseball.
The Red Sox lineup for this afternoon's game against the Rockies is as follows:
1. Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
2. Shane Victorino, RF
3. Dustin Pedroia, 2B
4. David Ortiz, DH
5. Mike Napoli, 1B
6. Daniel Nava, LF
7. Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C
8. Stephen Drew, SS
9. Jose Iglesias, 3B
The Rockies lineup for the game against the Red Sox is as follows:
1. DJ LeMahieu, 2B
2. Carlos Gonzalez, LF
3. Michael Cuddyer, RF
4. Wilin Rosario, DH
5. Todd Helton, 1B
6. Nolan Arenado, 3B
7. Tyler Colvin, CF
8. Yorvit Torrealba, C
9. Josh Rutledge, SS
First pitch for the game today is set for 2:05 PM Mountain time. The Rockies will be looking to end their road trip on a high note and build some momentum before heading back home to begin a seven game home stand against with one game against the Mets, Three against the Giants and three against the Dodgers.
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