Josh Beckett

The Red Sox and Phillies will play the first of a three game series Tuesday night in Philadelphia. This will be the fourth game of a nine game road trip for the Sox, all of which are against National League teams. The Sox are coming off of a win Sunday in the final game of a weekend series with the Pirates, where the Pirates took two of three.

Tuesday night’s game features two of the best pitchers in the respective leagues. Josh Beckett (6-2, 1.86) will take to the hill for the Sox and will be opposed by Phillies southpaw Cliff Lee (8-5, 2.87). Both have plenty of experience as Beckett is in his ninth season, while Lee is in his tenth.

Beckett has not pitched since June 15 as he was scratched from last Tuesday’s start with an illness, and his start Saturday was pushed back until Tuesday.

In his last outing, Beckett had his best game of the season as he threw a complete game one hitter, with six strikeouts in a 3-0 win over the Rays. Beckett’s gem went seemingly unnoticed, as that was the night the Bruins won the Stanley Cup.

The Sox have won seven out of the last eight of Beckett’s starts and Beckett has earned four wins during that stretch. The only loss came on May 29, when the Tigers bested Beckett and the Sox 3-0.

Lee is pitching his best baseball of the season. He has won six of his last seven starts, including four in a row. His last two outings have been complete game shutouts—a 4-0 win over the Cardinals on June 22 and a 3-0 win on June 16 against the Marlins. Lee has only allowed one run in his last four outings combined.

The left-hander is third in the National League in strikeouts with 112. He trails only teammate Roy Halladay and Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers.

Lifetime, Lee has faced the Sox 10 times and has a 2-4 record with a 4.06 ERA. He’s had some success against some members of the Sox, and struggled with others. He has held David Ortiz in check, as Ortiz is batting .240 life time against Lee with six strikeouts. On the other hand, Adrian Gonzalez is seven-for-ten, with a home run and three doubles against the Phillies pitcher.

Beckett has faced the Phillies 19 times over the course of his career, 17 of those being starts. He has compiled an 8-4 record and a 3.98 ERA.

Like his counterpart, Beckett has been inconsistent against Phillies hitters. He’s held Jimmy Rollins to a .255 batting average in 52 plate appearances, but then Ryan Howard is batting .308 with a two doubles and a home run in 13 life time at bats.

PHILLIES VS. BECKETT

Jimmy Rollins (52 plate appearances): .255 BA/.327 OBP/.489 SLG, 2 home runs, 8 RBIs

Brian Schneider (33): .133/.212/.233, 1 home run, 6 strikeouts

Placido Polanco (29): .167/.310/.208, 3 strikeouts

Chase Utley (28): .320/.393/.560, 2 home runs, 4 RBIs, 5 strikeouts

Ryan Howard (13): .308/.308/.692, 2 doubles, 1 home run, 6 RBIs

Raul Ibanez (12): .273/.333/.455, 1 triple, 1 RBI

Shane Victorino (7): .286/.286/.286, 2 strikeouts

Ross Gload (6): .250/.500/.500, 1 double

Ben Francisco, Carlos Ruiz and Wilson Valdez have faced Beckett three, three and two times respectively. Francisco has two hits, while Ruiz and Valdez each have one.

Domonic Brown has never faced the Sox starter.

RED SOX VS. LEE

Marco Scutaro (30 plate appearances): .320 BA/.414 OBP/.400 SLG, 2 doubles, 3 strikeouts

David Ortiz (26): .240/.269/.360, 3 doubles, 6 strikeouts

Kevin Youkilis (23): .263/.391/.579, 3 doubles, 1 home run, 4 RBIs

Jason Varitek (13): .250/.308/.333, 1 double, 6 strikeouts

Dustin Pedroia (12): .364/.417/.455, 1 double, 2 RBIs

J.D. Drew (10): .250/.300/.500, 2 doubles, 2 RBIs

Adrian Gonzalez (10): .700/.700/1.300, 2 doubles, 1 home run, 3 RBIs

Jacoby Ellsbury (8): .125/.125/.250

Darnell McDonald (7): .400/.500/.600

Mike Cameron (6): .333/.333/.1000, 1 home run, 3 RBIs

Jarrod Saltalamacchia (3): .333/.333/.333, 2 RBIs

Josh Reddick and Drew Sutton have not faced the Phillies starter.