Series Preview: A's at Red Sox (5/1-5/2)
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by user Tylersalt
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Billy Beane's Oakland Athletics (12-13, 3rd in AL West) come into Fenway Park today to take on the Boston Red Sox (16-8, 1st in AL East), holders of the best record in the majors, in a two-game set. Oakland has struggled with injuries so far this season, with outfielders Milton Bradley and Nick Swisher both missing some time and underperforming while they've been healthy. New DH Mike Piazza hasn't quite gotten it going yet, either, but their pitching has been quite good. Luckily for the Red Sox, they will not face new staff ace Dan Haren, but the A's do throw two good young pitchers at them Tuesday and Wednesday. Let's take a closer look.
Game 1
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Joe Blanton has been a nice surprise for the A's so far this year. He's always been a decent pitcher, but he's really started to come into his own as a starter thus far this year and has been a good complement to Haren and oft-injured Rich Harden at the top of the rotation. In his last start, he pitched a hard luck complete game loss against the Seattle Mariners, and has almost as many quality starts (5) himself as the entirety of the New York Yankees pitching staff. Blanton has pitched extremely well in his career against the BoSox, going 2-0 with a 2.03 ERA in 2 starts. He has also held the Red Sox to a .224 average, something he'll have to continue doing if the A's hope to have success against the hot bats from Beantown.
Curt Schilling pitched extremely well in his last outing, a one-run win over the Baltimore Orioles. Schill's strikeout numbers are down, and he's walking a few more batters, but he's still one of the more reliable pitchers in the league. It helps that the Red Sox offense is scoring 5 runs a game in his starts and that the bullpen is one of if not the best in the American League. Schilling is 3-3 in his career against Oakland, with a 3.75 ERA and a robust 4.45 K/BB ratio in 11 appearances, 7 of which are starts. Schilling's WHIP is under 1.00 at Fenway on the year.
Key Performers: Jason Kendall has a career line of .292/.324/.492 against Schilling with 3 HR's. Julio Lugo is 5-10 in his career against Blanton.
Game 2
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Josh Beckett has been nothing less than superb so far this season. An even 4:1 K/BB ratio, a WHIP just over 1.00, and a 2.48 ERA add up to a damn good April. It hasn't hurt that the Sox have scored an average of 8 runs per game that Beckett has started. This could be a test for Beckett, as he has struggled against the A's in his career (1-2, 6.23 ERA).
This is Chad Gaudin's first start against the Red Sox, but he has had 13 relief appearances, compiling a 1.66 ERA in 21 2/3 innings, holidng them to a .200 batting average. The Devil Rays roughed him up a bit, scoring 4 runs in 4 innings and giving him the loss. He'll try to turn it around against Boston.
Key Performers: Manny Ramirez is 2-6 against Gaudin, both hits being homers. Mike Piazza really needs to turn it on, as he's only 5-20 in his career against Beckett.
