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Thursday’s Red Sox-Mariners matchups: Franklin Morales vs. Felix Hernandez 06.28.12 at 8:22 am ET
By Jon Lemons

Franklin Morales

Thursday night marks the beginning of a seven-game West Coast tour for the Red Sox. Boston hasn’t had a day off since June 18 and won’t get one until July 5, but the workload doesn’t appear to wearing the team down — so far, anyway.  The Sox have won 11 of their last 14 games and, at 40-35, are five games over .500 for the first time this season.

This trip may be a long one, but once in Seattle the Sox have the good fortune of facing a Mariners club that is dead last in its division and ranks in the bottom half of the league in nearly every major offensive and pitching category.

After spending the bulk of his five-plus seasons as a reliever, Franklin Morales (1-1) will make his third straight start. The 26-year-old pitched well in his first two starts, going five innings and allowing two earned runs with nine strikeouts in a 7-4 Sox win over the Cubs on June 17, and giving up three runs (two earned) over six innings with eight strikeouts in an 8-4 win over the Braves on June 23. The latter earned Morales his first win of the year.

Granted, his total of 34 2/3 innings pitched isn’t a large enough sample to make a fair comparison, but it’s at least worth noting that Morales’ 3.12 ERA is best among Sox starters by more than a run. How he fares as his innings increase will be important to watch, as Morales has never pitched more than 46 innings in a season.

Having spent the majority of his career with Colorado before joining the Sox in May of last season, Morales has only faced the Mariners three times, all in relief appearances. The current Mariners lineup has a total of two hits and zero RBIs in just seven plate appearances against the lefty.

Facing off against Morales is fellow 26-year-old Venezuelan Felix Hernandez. After an up-and-down season, King Felix appears to be rounding into the form that earned him the 2010 Cy Young award, going seven innings and allowing just one earned run in each of his last two starts. He’s also been fantastic at home this season, with a 2.52 ERA and 51 strikeouts to just 13 walks in 50 innings.

Overall, Hernandez in 5-5 in 15 starts this season, with an ERA of 3.36, 11th best in the AL. He also ranks sixth in the AL with 101 2/3 innings pitched while his 101 strikeouts are good for fifth.

In his career, Hernandez is 5-2 against the Red Sox with an ERA of 3.55 and 63 strikeouts in 76 innings. The current Boston lineup is hitting a collective .269 off the righty, with 14 RBIs and 40 strikeouts in 162 plate appearances.

Adrian Gonzalez (11-for-36, 6 RBIs), Dustin Pedroia (10-for-28, 1 double, 1 home run, 3 RBIs) and Mike Aviles (5-for-11, 1 double, 1 RBI) have posted impressive numbers against Hernandez.

Red Sox vs. Hernandez (RHP)

Adrian Gonzalez (39 plate appearances): .306 BA/.359 OBP/.444 SLG, 2 doubles, 1 home run, 6 RBIs, 3 walks, 9 strikeouts

Dustin Pedroia (31): .357/.419/.500, 1 double, 1 home run, 3 RBIs, 3 walks, 3 strikeouts

David Ortiz (28): .261/.393/.435, 1 double, 1 home run, 4 RBIs, 5 walks, 5 strikeouts

Jarrod Saltalamacchia (20): .211/.250/.263, 1 double, 1 walk, 8 strikeouts

Nick Punto (12): .111/.333/.111, 3 walks, 1 strikeout

Mike Aviles (11):.455/.455/.545, 1 double, 1 RBI, 3 strikeouts

Kelly Shoppach (9): .000/.111/.000, 1 walk, 6 strikeouts

Brent Lillibridge (6): .200/.333/.200, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts

Ryan Kalish (3): .333/.333/.667, 1 double, 1 strikeout

Daniel Nava (3): .000/.000/.000, 2 strikeouts

Mariners vs. Morales (LHP)

Dustin Ackley (2): .000 BA/.000 OBP/.000 SLG, 1 strikeout

John Jaso (1): .000/1.000/.000, 1 walk

Jesus Montero (1): 1.000/1.000/1.000

Miguel Olivo (1): 1.000/1.000/2.000, 1 double

Kyle Seager (1): .000/.000/.000

Justin Smoak (1): .000/1.000/.000, 1 walk

Read More: Boston Red Sox, felix hernandez, franklin morales, Toronto Blue Jays Print  |  Email  |  Bark It Up!  |  Digg It
  • Nighttrain75

    man, is it me or do we always run into the other teams ace in every series?

  • Ty

    They gave it a good effort, but they never seemed to be into this game mentally–way, wayyy too many turnovers in the first quarter.  It’s amazing they were only down 5 at the half.  Most of their turnovers weren’t even forced by OKC, it was just poor execution.  They didn’t help themselves out at the free throw line either, and with the refs not giving the Celtics any breaks (the officiating was truly terrible in this game), I actually think it says a lot they still had a chance to win.  They need to take much better care of the basketball though, that’s the #1 priority, and luckily, it’s something they can fix.

  • keepitreal

    maybe at this point Doc will give his new guys a little run in the next 3 gms vs Bobcats, Raptors, Bobcats…before facing Miami next Monday night. 
    “Any scoring” would have helped us today (especially with all the jumpshots missing terribly). Both DJ White & Randolph were good inside scorers before coming here this year. Wilcox played ok today (10 mins, 2pts, 2rebs) but that offensive output may be improved upon with one or both these new guys.

  • One got away

    Green and KG 7-30 along with the TO and FT difference. Could have stole this game. Good defense.

  • Baker

    Pretty uneven officiating in this one. 
    One a high note, Bass had a really nice game, he was hustling all over the floor.

  • ChrisinDanvers

    Overall, this game was much closer than I thought it would be. There were three things that I think stood out in this game that resulted in the Celtics loss:

    1. Turnovers. There was some really poor passing throughout the game, particularly the back pass and cross court pass. Ugly. Because of those alone, OKC should have won by 20.

    2. Getting away from going to the hoop. During the fourth quarter, the Celtics took an inordinate amount of jump shots – early on because they seemed to want to and later to catch up. Going to the basket works for them…and they should have done this more often throughout.

    3. The theory of relativity (which relates to the officials). The theory that a team is relatively better and closer to the playoffs was well at work with the officials. Granted, there were a couple of bad calls bother ways. The goaltending call was awful. Garnett’s shot that seemed to roll out look like it may have been affected by a hand catching near the net. Three different drives between the 9:00 and 6:00 mark of the fourth quarter were fouls that the Celtics didn’t get. It doesn’t take Einstein to know that the refs whistles went away for the Celtics at light speed. Too bad.

    Not sure if the Green would have won this game anyway…I expected a scene much like last year’s OKC game…but this game was much better than I expected.

  • Stephen

    Ugly shooting by the Celtics but defensively they were in the same league as these contenders.

  • Marshallshouse74

    Scott your comments are like jabba jabba jabba
    But, I agree.

  • Marshallshouse74

    Scott your comments are like jabba jabba jabba
    But, I agree.

  • Kim Jong Rodman

    except the Celts really wanted Ray and showed it with their offer.  Pats didn’t want Wes back, hence the cynical matching offer.  Pretty disgusting

  • Justsayin

    Bottom line is Wes dropped several important passes including one that most likely would have sealed the SB last year.  Then in the AFC Championship he dropped 2 passes one that would have changed the complexion of the 2nd half.  Pats don’t seem to go above and beyond for players that cost them championships, see Asante Samuel (dropped interception in SB).  Amendola is the same as Wes was when we traded for him out of Miami.  We will see if he can stay healthy which to me is the only question.  Talent wise they are the same but Amendola is younger and more explosive.

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