American League Preview from The Sports Network
Thursday, May 31st
(All times Eastern)
Detroit Tigers (23-27) at Boston Red Sox (26-24), 7:10 p.m.
Probable Starting Pitchers: Detroit - Max Scherzer (4-3, 5.67)
Boston - Josh Beckett (4-4, 4.15)
(Sports Network) - Josh Beckett tries to pitch the Boston Red Sox to a four-
game sweep of the Detroit Tigers this evening at Fenway Park.
Detroit's struggles in Boston continued on Wednesday, as David Ortiz and Will
Middlebrooks each hit a two-run homer to help the Red Sox to a 6-4 win. Kevin
Youkilis added a solo shot with two runs scored, while Adrian Gonzalez doubled
twice, drove in a run and scored once for Boston, which has won three in a row
and eight of its last 11.
Matt Albers (1-0) picked up the win in relief and Alfredo Aceves turned in a
scoreless ninth for his 13th save.
"Aceves is like our pitching [Dustin] Pedroia," Red Sox manager Bobby
Valentine said. "You just wind him up. He was throwing harder tonight than he
has in any of the other four days."
Miguel Cabrera finished 4-for-5 with three doubles and drove in a run for the
Tigers, who have lost six of nine overall. Detroit has also lost seven in a
row and 14 of its past 17 at Fenway.
Octavio Dotel (1-2), who retired two batters in the seventh, was charged with
the deciding run.
"Dotel struck out the first two, then you had a walk and then they got a big
hit," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. "You have to give them credit."
Beckett, meanwhile, has been terrific his last three times out (2-0). He did
not get a decision on Saturday against Tampa Bay, but allowed two runs and
four hits in seven innings and struck out five without walking a batter in his
team's 3-2 win. He had allowed just one run in his previous two outings
spanning 14 2/3 innings.
Beckett, who is 4-4 with a 4.15 ERA on the year, was roughed up by the Tigers
to the tune of seven runs and seven hits in 4 2/3 innings back on April 7. He
is 3-3 lifetime against them with a 3.65 ERA in seven starts.
Detroit will counter with a streaking righty of its own in Max Scherzer, who
has won his last three decisions. Scherzer improved to 4-3 on Saturday in
Minnesota, as he held the Twins to three runs and six hits in 5 1/3 innings.
He also struck out nine without walking a batter and has fanned 24 batters in
his last 12 1/3 innings.
"For me, it's always the walks," said Scherzer, who has struck out at least
nine batters in four of his last five starts. "That's one of the main things I
can control. When I'm commanding the zone, I'm keeping the runners on base,
and you can pitch deeper into games. I'm definitely more pleased with that
than anything."
Scherzer is 0-2 in four starts versus the Red Sox and has surrendered 21 runs
in 16 innings of those outings.
05/31 10:40:24 ET

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