Faced with an uphill climb in the American League wild-card race, the Boston Red Sox will host the Chicago White Sox in the first contest of a three-game series on Friday.
The White Sox (32-109) actually will begin the series on a higher note after snapping their 12-game skid with an 8-1 Wednesday win in Baltimore. The Red Sox (70-70), in turn, watched the New York Mets complete the sweep against them in an 8-3 decision and have lost five in a row.
“It’s been tough this year to get those, but every win feels good,” Chicago second baseman Nicky Lopez said. “Especially because — and I feel like a broken record — we pull so hard for each other here. It’s a close group and we haven’t been able to get over that hump.”
The White Sox homered three times on Wednesday, matching their combined total from the previous 17 games. A 15-hit attack featured Lopez and Dominic Fletcher hitting their first of the season and Andrew Vaughn his team-leading 16th.
Several defensive highlights also excited interim manager Grady Sizemore, including a second-inning throw from right field by Fletcher to catch the Orioles’ Cedric Mullins trying to tag from second base.
Wednesday was a game “where it came together,” Sizemore said. “It shows those guys how they can do it and try to repeat those kinds of efforts where we are playing clean, we’re having good at-bats and doing everything we need to do to win.”
Davis Martin (0-3, 3.62 ERA) will aim to lift Chicago to a second consecutive win for the first time since a three-game win streak from June 27-29. The 27-year-old has never faced Boston.
Last Saturday against the Mets, Martin struck out a season-high six in five innings of four-run ball but took the 5-3 loss. He had allowed just four earned runs over his previous four starts and 21 innings.
The Red Sox, meanwhile, will be looking to curb a skid that dropped them to 5 1/2 games behind the Kansas City Royals — losers of seven straight prior to Wednesday — for the third and final AL wild-card spot. The Minnesota Twins are just percentage points ahead of the Royals.
Boston has fallen to .500 for the first time since June 14. As of Thursday, Detroit and Seattle also had identical 70-70 records and were contending for that final wild-card spot.
“We’re talking about the Royals and the Twins and everybody else. It doesn’t matter. We’re playing .500 baseball,” Boston manager Alex Cora said.
Wednesday’s Red Sox series-sweeping loss saw starting pitcher Tanner Houck shake off a four-run first to work five strong innings, but three bases-loaded walks in the eighth broke open a one-run game.
“It really doesn’t matter who we play,” catcher Connor Wong said. “We have to play better regardless. It starts with us.”
Boston’s Nick Pivetta (5-10, 4.53) will look to bounce back from a tough-luck loss last Saturday in Detroit, where he struck out six while allowing two runs over the first six innings of a 2-1 game. The winning run scored on a fly ball double that hit off left fielder Rob Refsnyder’s glove.
Pivetta is 1-0 with a 1.72 career ERA in eight appearances (five starts) against the White Sox.
Boston enters the series at seven games below .500 (31-38) at home, while the White Sox are 14-55 on the road.
–Field Level Media