The Boston Red Sox seek their fifth straight win and an Interleague sweep when they host the San Francisco Giants in the finale of a three-game series on Thursday afternoon.
Continued outstanding pitching and timely hitting helped the Red Sox post 4-0 and 6-2 wins to begin the series, allowing just a total of nine hits.
“We expect to be consistent,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “I know that every single night, we feel very comfortable where we’re going to be pitching-wise. Obviously, the numbers speak for themselves. But for me, this is not because of what we did in April. I felt very comfortable in spring training.”
On Wednesday, Kutter Crawford threw a career-high seven innings, while Connor Wong was 3-for-4 with two doubles, an RBI and a run scored.
Dominic Smith also recorded an RBI single in his Red Sox debut on the same day he was activated after he opted out of his deal with Tampa Bay. Garrett Cooper, formerly of the Chicago Cubs, made his first Boston appearance on Tuesday.
“We expect these two guys to help us,” Cora said. “They can slow down the game, they’re gonna hit the ball the other way. It was great to add them to the roster.”
The Red Sox also acquired infielder Zack Short from the New York Mets on Wednesday afternoon. Cora expects him to be activated before the series finale and be in the starting lineup.
Boston turns to right-hander Josh Winckowski (1-1, 3.50 ERA), who is scheduled to make his third straight start after seven relief appearances to begin the season. He is 0-0 with a 3.38 ERA in two appearances (no starts) against San Francisco.
Winckowski has allowed just one earned run over 6 1/3 innings since joining the rotation April 21. He worked three scoreless innings to begin a 17-0 Red Sox win last Saturday against the Chicago Cubs.
San Francisco, meanwhile, will look to salvage the series with Kyle Harrison (2-1, 4.09). He threw six scoreless innings last Friday against Pittsburgh, striking out seven and allowing only five hits.
Harrison had allowed three runs in each of his previous three starts.
“He’s a fantastic competitor,” Giants catcher Patrick Bailey said. “(The last start was) probably the best I’ve seen him this year. Threw the breaking ball very well, the changeup was good, the fastball played well.”
The 22-year-old has never faced the Red Sox.
The Giants have lost consecutive games for the first time since April 8-9, but Andover, Mass., native Mike Yastrzemski — the grandson of Red Sox great and Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski — has been a recent bright spot amid a 10-for-27 stretch (.370) over his past 10 games.
“When you have a guy like him hidden in the eighth hole, you know that you have a chance to potentially score every inning,” Giants manager Bob Melvin said. “We have a good feeling every time he’s up there.”
This series marks the first for the Giants at Fenway since 2019, which was Yastrzemski’s rookie year.
“To be able to come back again and have a little bit more clarity of where I’m at in life and be able to be a little more comfortable, it’s nice,” he said.
Tom Murphy hit his first home run of the season in the third inning Wednesday.
–Field Level Media