| 16 June 2010
Starters
Jon Lester (7-2, 3.18)
Rodrigo Lopez (2-5, 4.45)
After nine starts on near untouchableness (yeah, I made that word up, so what?) Lester was shelled for 6 runs by the Indians in his last outing. He still fanned 8 and only walked 1, but the Tribe were able to bounce him out of the game after 6 innings and the Sox cam up just short in the loss. Tonight should be an interesting game for Lester... the Diamondbacks whiff a bunch and don't hit for average either, but they hold the 4th best OPS against southpaws in the majors at .821. That could be a fluke, thanks to some bad pitching from a few opposing lefties, but make no mistake, the D-backs have some guys that can crush the ball, so Lester will need to mix up his pitches and keep them guessing.
Thanks to a lengthly stay in Baltimore, Lopez has seen plenty of the Red Sox... but hasn't pitched all them well against them: 10-9, 4.54 ERA, .275 BAA. Overall, Lopez has been the pitcher he's always been, but if nothing else, the D-Backs have been able to count Lopez giving them 6 innings of work. He's averaging 6.5 innings per start and has lasted at least 5 innings in every game. In his last start, Lopez allowed 5 runs on 6 hits to the Cardinals in a 2-5 loss.
Key Matchups
Former Sox Adam LaRoche leads his team with a .340 BA versus southpaws, despite hitting lefty himself. He's also 7 for his last 17 (.411) with three multi-hit games. Just like yesterday, Kelly Johnson is the other guy to watch (.317 vs LHP)
For the Sox, I gotta go with Pedroia. Amazingly, He's never faced Lopez, but he's 10 for his last 20 (.500) with four multi-hits games. If you really need a second option, I'd go with Big Papi. He's got 2 homers and .326 BA against Lopez.
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