A pair of teams rocketing in opposite directions will meet in a second-half opener as the Boston Red Sox strut into the latter portion of the schedule, while the Los Angeles Dodgers try to pick up the pieces.
The three-game series begins Friday at Los Angeles.
A glance at the standings seem to tell an alternate story, with the Red Sox in third place in the American League East and holding onto the third wild card. The Dodgers are in first place in the National League West, right where most expectations predicted.
But it is the Red Sox who have won 10 of their last 13 games and have gone 31-18 since the middle of May, while the Dodgers limped into the break by losing six of seven and going 23-24 since mid-May.
The recent surge has Red Sox manager Alex Cora thinking bigger than a mere playoff spot. He has his sights set on the division titans in the Baltimore Orioles and New York Yankees as he sends right-hander Nick Pivetta (4-6, 4.18 ERA) to the mound Friday.
“So far, so good, but we have bigger goals than having a good first part of the season,” Cora said. “We’re 4 1/2 games back from the lead in the East. That’s what we’re shooting for. The whole talk about the wild card and all that, it should be in the past. Let’s think big and see what happens.”
Pivetta is 1-2 lifetime against the Dodgers with a 3.80 ERA in five appearances (four starts).
Boston outfielder Jarren Duran went 4-for-5 in the first-half finale Sunday, then hit a two-run, go-ahead homer in Tuesday’s All-Star Game to earn MVP honors. The Dodgers also made a showing at the All-Star Game with Shohei Ohtani’s three-run home run accounting for all of the National League’s runs in the 5-3 defeat.
Merely a designated hitter this season, Ohtani still is among the NL MVP favorites after he batted .316 in the first half with a 1.036 OPS, 29 home runs and 69 RBIs. But the team’s star-laden roster has been crushed by injuries with Mookie Betts, Max Muncy, Tyler Glasnow, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Walker Buehler among those on the injured list.
Also, three-time Cy Young winner Clayton Kershaw (shoulder) has yet to make his season debut.
The Dodgers ended the first half with three rookies in the rotation: Gavin Stone, Landon Knack and Justin Wrobleski.
Stone (9-3, 3.26) is scheduled to start Friday. The right-hander earned his first career win against Boston last season in one of his eight outings, giving up four runs in six innings of relief while following an opener.
Over the last four games of the first half, the Dodgers used left-hander Anthony Banda as an opener then went with recent waiver claim Brent Honeywell Jr. to start the first-half finale. They lost both games while going 1-5 on a road trip through Philadelphia and Detroit.
“It’s been difficult,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “… It feels like we have to play perfect baseball. And that’s not the way it should be for us to win baseball games.
“But where we’re at, it’s hard putting runs across and you feel like the starting pitchers, the relievers, they have to be perfect. And that’s just hard to do. You have to play perfect defense. You can’t give away outs on the bases. And that’s a tough way to consistently win.”
–Field Level Media