The Red Sox head to Cleveland as these two teams face each other for the first time since the 2007 ALCS. Jon Lester takes the hill for Boston and his 2008 season is off to a lackluster start. He’s walked ten in sixteen innings while striking out just seven. Walks in general have been a problem for the Boston starters this year as they’ve walked 43 in 72 2/3 innings, or 5.3 per 9. Westbrook’s been in the strike zone in his two starts as he walked just one.

Nick Swisher
Photo: Icon SMI

Two first place teams face off in Chicago as Greg Smith and the Athletics take on Mark Buehrle and the White Sox. This will be the first time Nick Swisher plays against his former team in the regular season. Swisher is providing a great OBA at the top of the order for the White Sox, posting a .444 OBA there. Ryan Sweeney, one of the players the A’s acquired in the deal, is putting up very good numbers for the Athletics, although an injury and the expected cold weather will likely keep him out of these games.
It’s also a game that pits two teams with different strengths. The White Sox score over six runs per game, the A’s just over four. But Oakland allows about 0.8 runs less than Chicago per game, so we’ll see if good pitching stops good hitting.
Finally, Randy Johnson makes his first start of the 2008 season in San Francisco. It’s a good opponent for the Big Unit, as they are tied with the Padres for lowest runs per game in the National League. Randy faces Jonathan Sanchez. The Giants pitcher struck out 95 in 92 innings his first two years in the majors, but has yet to record a K in 10 innings this year, and this year struck out 18 in 10 innings. With Arizona boasting the highest runs per game in the majors, this will be a tough assignment for the young left-hander.
Enjoy!
Correction: I read the wrong column when looking at Sanchez’s K rate.
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