BOSTON — What a perfect time for the Boston Red Sox to have a day off.Their weekend in St. Petersburg
Roberto Perez Jersey , not only disaster in terms of suffering their first series sweep of the season, was made worse by the New York Yankees sweeping four
games in Baltimore to close the gap in the American League East.Three games on
Players’ Weekend, three losses by a combined count of 24-5.Article continues
below ...“Sometimes you go through tough times,” Red Sox infielder Eduardo Nunez
said after Sunday’s 9-1 blowout at the hands of the upstart Rays. “Off-day
tomorrow and start all over again.“This happens in a long season. We know it’s
not going to be easy all the way through. At some point, you’re going to have
tough times. It was a very tough week for us. Turn the page and keep going.
We’re in first place for a reason.”Now losers of five of the last seven games,
the Red Sox are home for a quick pair against the lowly Miami Marlins before
heading back out on the road. Boston left-hander Brian Johnson faces the
recently suspended Jose Urena in the opener Tuesday night.The Red Sox swept two
games from the Marlins in Miami as part of a nine-game winning streak and 17-2
start to open the season. Johnson won one of those games and Urena pitched a
strong game in a no-decision in the other.Johnson is 4-3 with a 4.12 ERA overall
but 4-1 with a 3.63 ERA in 10 starts (the team is 8-2 in those 10 starts). He
gave up one run in six innings in the early appearance at Miami.Urena, suspended
for six games after hitting Atlanta’s Ronald Acuna Jr., pitched a complete-game
two-hitter against the Washington Nationals before serving his suspension. He
comes off the suspension to pitch and brings a 4-12 record and 4.50 ERA into the
game.After the right-hander dropped his appeal, manager Don Mattingly, who
criticized Urena for throwing at Acuna on the first pitch of a game after the
Atlanta rookie had hit four homers in three games against Miami, said
Eddie Robinson Jersey , “It makes sense from our standpoint. Obviously, Jose had to make his decision. I think he made a good decision, getting this
thing on the back side of him, and working toward the rest of the year.“He
wasn’t going to participate in the series coming up, so there was no reason to
prolong this.”The Marlins come into this game 53-72, but have split their last
10 games.Mattingly returns to the park where he did so many good things during
his playing career. He hit .313 with four homers and 30 RBIs in 65 games (58
starts) at Fenway, .292 with 11 homers and 79 RBIs overall against the Red
Sox.Obviously, his bat can’t help in this series — as the Red Sox look to shake
off their miserable weekend and get back on track.The Sox were swept for the
first time in almost exactly a year — when they were outscored 25-4 in the first
Players’ Weekend, that one at Fenway.“Just a bad weekend,” Red Sox manager Alex
Cora said. “That’s it. They’re playing great baseball. They play great here.
They’ve done this to some good teams. It was just a bad weekend in (St.
Petersburg). Day off tomorrow and we’ll get them Tuesday.”J.D. Martinez, the
subject of triple crown talk through much of the season
http://www.indiansfanproshop.com/authentic-matt-belisle-jersey , has overtaken teammate Mookie Betts for the American League batting lead (.337
to .335). He is second to Khris Young in home runs (39/38) and leads in RBIs
(110). DENVER — Two young starters who have assumed prominent roles in their
respective rotations will oppose each other Saturday when the Colorado Rockies
and Los Angeles Dodgers continue their series.The Dodgers trail the Rockies by a
half game in the National League West after their 4-2 win on Friday. The Arizona
Diamondbacks, who beat the Atlanta Braves 5-3 on Friday, are third, 1 1/2 games
behind the Rockies. The Dodgers are one game behind the St. Louis Cardinals in
the race for the second NL wild-card spot. Article continues below ...Rockies
left-hander Kyle Freeland (13-7, 2.96 ERA) has been their most consistent
starter all season. And Walker Buehler (6-4, 2.92) has recovered from a rib
injury and become the Dodgers’ second-best starter behind Clayton Kershaw.
Freeland, 25, is in his second full season in the majors. Buehler, 24, is in his
first full season after making his major league debut exactly one year ago
Friday.Both pitchers are former first-round draft picks. Buehler was taken 24th
overall out of Vanderbilt in 2015. Freeland was the eighth overall selection in
2014 out of Evansville.Being a Denver native, Freeland said he has “a special
pride” starting a meaningful September game against the Dodgers. The Rockies are
19-9 in games started by Freeland
Mike Napoli Jersey , who has been particularly effective in hitter-friendly Coors Field, going 7-2 with a 2.27 ERA in 12 starts there this season.In his
past seven starts, Freeland is 4-1 with a 1.85 ERA while allowing two home runs
in 43 2/3 innings.Freeland is coming off a win Sunday at San Diego where he gave
up seven hits and three runs in six innings in Colorado’s 7-3 triumph.Freeland
is 1-3 with a 3.90 ERA in six career starts against the Dodgers, and 0-1 with a
3.38 ERA in two starts against them this season. The most recent was a
no-decision Aug. 11 at Coors Field where Freeland allowed six hits and two runs
in seven innings with two walks and a career-high 10 strikeouts in Colorado’s
3-2 win. He’ll face them again with the pennant race in sharper focus than it
was a month ago.“It’s exciting knowing that we’re in the hunt, they’re in the
hunt, they’re a rival in our division,” Freeland said. “It’s really exciting,
but you can’t buy into the hype. You still have to go out there and play your
brand of baseball. You can’t try to do too much or do less or anything like
that. You need to stay focused on what you need to get done.”Save for an
ill-fated relief appearance that lasted one inning June 28, Buehler didn’t pitch
for the Dodgers from June 9 thru July 12 due to a microfracture in his right
rib.The Dodgers are 11-7 in starts by Buehler, who in his last outing Sunday
against the Diamondbacks allowed one run and two hits in 6 1/3 innings but ended
up with a no-decision in the Dodgers’ 3-2 win.In nine starts since returning
from his rib injury, Buehler is 2-2
Carlos Baerga Jersey , and he is 2-0 over his last six starts.“I think I came off the rib injury and kind of tried to simplify things,” Buehler said.
“Really tried to figure out what worked for me and what didn’t, and I changed
the curveball grip and have kind of thrown more hard sliders, cutters.”Buehler
had thrown a knuckle-curve but said he wasn’t getting the swings and misses he
wanted, so he is now throwing a more traditional curveball. He said with the
slider and cutter, he is now throwing each with more conviction “instead of
throwing one that spins and you never know which one it was going to be.”Buehler
has made seven career appearances, including three starts, against the Rockies
and is 0-0 with a 4.07 ERA. All three of those starts came this season, and
Buehler had a 2.37 ERA in those games.
