The Blue Jays welcome the Red Sox to town for one of the biggest series of the year. The first game of this four game set gets underway tonight at 7:07 ET.
Blue Jays’ Starter
Rookie right hander Alek Manoah will make his 10th start of the season today, bringing his 3-1 record and 2.47 ERA into action. Through 47.1 innings, Manoah has struck out 56 against 16 walks. He has also allowed 7 home runs, the one thing that is holding his FIP back, although interestingly those have come in just 2 of his 9 starts so far. Also interestingly with that, neither of those 2 game account for his lone loss this year, as the Jays’ bats really carried the team in those games. His lone loss came in a game where he struck out 9 batters in just 3.2 innings. Such is baseball.
This will be Manoah’s second start against the Red Sox. He had a great start but took a no decision in his June 14 start in Fenway (the one with Vladdy’s 9th inning game tying home run). In that one, Manoah went 6 innings, allowed just 1 run on 4 hits and a walk while striking out 5.
Red Sox’ Starter
Nathan Eovaldi will get the ball for the Red Sox, and he enters play as the American League leader in fWAR for pitchers at 3.9, just ahead of Gerrit Cole. However, his bWAR comes in a bit lower, currently at 2.9 and outside the top 10. The difference between the two on a very basic level is that bWAR is based off runs allowed, while fWAR takes into consideration how the pitcher did with things his can control, basing it off FIP. So Eovaldi enters play with a 3.71 ERA, but a 2.65 FIP over 121.1 innings.
Eovaldi’s excellent FIP comes on the strength of his great rate numbers so far this year. In his 121.1 innings, he has 120 strikeouts against just 22 walks and 7 home runs. Among the 51 qualified pitchers in baseball this year, that walk rate and home run rate are both the second lowest. If you’re a pitcher who wants to limit runs, one of the best ways to do it is to limit free passes and to limit home runs.
This will be just Eovaldi’s second start against the Jays this year as well, just missing out on pitching in the other serieses. His lone start came in the aforementioned June 14 game, where he threw a gem. Through 6.2 shutout innings, he held the Jays to just 3 hits and a walk, striking out 4.
Blue Jays’ Lineup
The Red Sox are expected to send out four righties this weekend, which means there’s a chance we see a lot of Reese McGuire and Corey Dickerson in the lineup. For tonight though, I would expect to see Alejandro Kirk behind the plate, as Reese has caught 3 straight games. They’ll split the starts behind the plate tomorrow, and then Reese will catch Ryu on Sunday.
Dickerson has struggled so far since being activated from the IL. He has played LF once and DH twice, but has collected just 1 hit, a pretty big double in Wednesday’s game. He is 1-11 so far, but encouragingly hasn’t struck out yet at least.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who took a ball off the hand in last night’s game, will be the big one to watch out for as the lineup is announced this afternoon. Everything seemed to be fine, but it was still a scary scene.
Red Sox’ Lineup
The Red Sox recently got Marwin Gonzalez back from the injured list, but he’ll feature a bit more prominently in the games against Ryu and Ray, as the switch hitter gets his share of starts against lefties. He’s still an important piece to the Red Sox’ bench, and could very well be a factor later in the game.
Franchy Cordero will likely be the one starting at 1B, as the lefty has taken over the bulk of the opportunities at first base against righties. However, seemingly regardless of who they put at first base this year, they’ve hit terribly. As a group, all Red Sox first basemen have hit .217/.260/.385, good for just a 71 wRC+. It was one of the most glaringly obvious positions in baseball that needed an upgrade at the trade deadline, and the Red Sox will probably regret not making a move.
Jarren Duran will likely be getting the start in CF today, as he seems to be in a platoon and getting starts against righties. For whatever reason, when he is in the lineup, he has been hitting near the top of the order. Through the first 54 plate appearances of his career, he is hitting .176/.204/.353, and batting right in front of Xander Bogaerts. Absolute lunacy.
Yesterday’s Heroes
Trevor Story launched a pair of home runs and drove in 3 to pick up the Monster Bat award. He was instrumental in the Rockies’ 6-5 win over the Cubs.
Joey Gallo hit a towering 3-run home run just over the short porch in RF at Yankee Stadium, giving the Yankees a lead they wouldn’t relinquish. Gallo gets the WPA King trophy with a .651 mark, and the Yankees beat the Mariners 5-3.
Merrill Kelly threw 8 shutout innings, allowing just 3 hits and 2 walks while striking out 4 to pick up the Pitcher of the Day award. However, since he plays for the Diamondbacks, it went to waste as the Giants rallied to tie it with 4 in the 9th, and then won it 5-4 in the 10th.
Find the Link
Find the link between Marwin Gonzalez and Hunter Pence.
TORONTO – Reigning PWHL MVP and scoring champ Natalie Spooner will miss the start of the regular season for the Toronto Sceptres, general manager Gina Kingsbury announced Tuesday on the first day of training camp.
The 33-year-old Spooner had knee surgery on her left anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) after she was checked into the boards by Minnesota’s Grace Zumwinkle in Game 3 of their best-of-five semifinal series on May 13.
She had a goal and an assist in three playoff games but did not finish the series. Toronto was up 2-1 in the semifinal at that time and eventually fell 3-2 in the series.
Spooner led the PWHL with 27 points in 24 games. Her 20 goals, including five game-winners, were nine more than the closest skater.
Kingsbury said there is no timeline, as the team wants the Toronto native at 100 per cent, but added that “she is doing really well” in her recovery.
The Sceptres open the PWHL season on Nov. 30 when they host the Boston Fleet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — A top official of the Pakistan Cricket Board declined Friday to confirm media reports that India has decided against playing any games in host Pakistan during next year’s Champions Trophy.
“My view is if there’s any problems, they (India) should tell us in writing,” PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi told reporters in Lahore. “I’ll share that with the media as well as with the government as soon as I get such a letter.”
Indian media reported Friday that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has communicated its concerns to all the Champions Trophy stakeholders, including the PCB, over the Feb. 19-March 9 tournament and would not play in arch-rival Pakistan.
The Times of India said that “Dubai is a strong candidate to host the fixtures involving the Men in Blue” for the 50-over tournament.
Such a solution would see Pakistan having to travel to a neutral venue to play India in a group match, with another potential meeting later in the tournament if both teams advanced from their group. The final is scheduled for March 9 in Pakistan with the specific venue not yet decided.
“Our stance is clear,” Naqvi said. “They need to give us in writing any objections they may have. Until now, no discussion of the hybrid model has happened, nor are we prepared to accept one.”
Political tensions have stopped bilateral cricket between the two nations since 2008 and they have competed in only multi-nation tournaments, including ICC World Cups.
“Cricket should be free of politics,” Naqvi said. “Any sport should not be entangled with politics. Our preparations for the Champions Trophy will continue unabated, and this will be a successful event.”
The PCB has already spent millions of dollars on the upgrade of stadiums in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi which are due to host 15 Champions Trophy games. Naqvi hoped all the three stadiums will be ready over the next two months.
“Almost every country wants the Champions Trophy to be played here (in Pakistan),” Naqvi said. “I don’t think anyone should make this a political matter, and I don’t expect they will. I expect the tournament will be held at the home of the official hosts.”
Eight countries – Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, England, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Afghanistan – are due to compete in the tournament, the schedule of which is yet to be announced by the International Cricket Council.
“Normally the ICC announces the schedule of any major tournament 100 days before the event, and I hope they will announce it very soon,” Naqvi said.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Ottawa‘s Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand are through to the doubles final at the WTA Finals after a 7-6 (7), 6-1 victory over Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the United States and Australia’s Ellen Perez in semifinal action Friday.
Dabrowski and Routliffe won a hard-fought first set against serve when Routliffe’s quick reaction at the net to defend a Perez shot gave the duo set point, causing Perez to throw down her racket in frustration.
The second seeds then cruised through the second set, winning match point on serve when Melichar-Martinez couldn’t handle Routliffe’s shot.
The showdown was a rematch of last year’s semifinal, which Melichar-Martinez and Perez won in a super tiebreak.
Dabrowski and Routliffe will face the winner of a match between Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend, and Hao-Ching Chan and Veronika Kudermetova in the final on Saturday.
Dabrowski is aiming to become the first Canadian to win a WTA Finals title.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
