Josh Beckett

Josh Beckett will look to get back in the win column Wednesday night after registering no-decisions in his last two starts. One of those no-decisions came against these same Angels on April 21. Beckett, who is 2-1 with a 2.65 ERA on the season, gave up two runs on three hits and two walks over eight innings in what eventually became a 4-2 extra-innings win for the Red Sox.

In his career, Beckett is 3-4 with a 4.28 ERA in 11 starts against the Angels. Current Angels are hitting .256 against him. Bobby Abreu’s 101 plate appearances against him are more than twice as many as any other Angel. He’s hitting just .188 with a staggering 25 strikeouts, but he has a .356 on-base percentage thanks to an equally eye-popping 21 walks. Vernon Wells has had the most success against Beckett, as he’s hitting .293 with five home runs and eight RBIs in 41 at-bats.

Opposing Beckett will be Ervin Santana, who is 1-3 with a 4.89 ERA this season. The Sox dealt him a loss on April 23, knocking him around for nine hits and five runs over seven innings. Santana bounced back on Friday by holding the Rays to four hits and one earned run over six innings to pick up his first W.

With the loss a week and a half ago, Santana fell to 2-3 with a 4.58 ERA in his career against Boston. Current Sox are batting .250 against him. David Ortiz has done the most damage with a .308 average, two homers and four RBIs in 26 ABs. Jacoby Ellsbury and Kevin Youkilis are both hitting over .300 with a homer and three RBIs. Jason Varitek, who has caught each of Beckett’s last four starts, has struggled mightily with Santana, as he is 2-for-20 with six strikeouts.

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Jon Lester

After handing Angels No. 1 pitcher Jered Weaver his first loss of the season Monday night, the Red Sox now get to face the Angels’ 1-A starter in Dan Haren on Tuesday night. Haren, who is 4-1 this season, ranks second in the American League in ERA (1.23) and first in WHIP (0.75). As is the case with Weaver, Haren’s only loss came against the Sox. He gave up four runs (two earned) on five hits and three walks over six innings in a 4-3 Boston win on April 22.

With the loss, Haren dropped to 2-6 against the Sox in his career, although he does have a solid 3.19 ERA and 1.19 WHIP against them. David Ortiz has had plenty of success against Haren — he’s hitting .318 with three home runs and six RBIs in 22 career at-bats — but most of the Sox have struggled with him. As a team, Boston is hitting just .216 off Haren. No one has had a tougher go of it than Dustin Pedroia, who is 0-for-12 with a walk and five strikeouts in 13 plate appearances.

The Sox will counter Haren with an ace of their own in Jon Lester, who is 3-1 with a 2.52 ERA and 1.12 WHIP this season. The 27-year-old southpaw also opposed Haren in that April 22 game, and he earned the win by tossing six shutout innings. Lester, who has won each of his last three starts, improved to 3-1 against the Angels in his career. But in a reverse of Haren’s situation, Lester has a less-than-stellar 4.81 ERA and 1.63 WHIP against them.

Current Angels are hitting .238 against Lester. Torii Hunter has had the most success, as he is hitting .375 with a homer and four RBIs in 16 ABs. Vernon Wells, Bobby Abreu and Howie Kendrick — the three players with the most ABs — are all hitting .200 or worse against Lester. Read the rest of this entry »

Clay Buchholz

The Red Sox were lucky enough to avoid Jered Weaver in last weekend’s four-game series with the Angels, but they won’t be so fortunate this time around, as he’ll take the mound Monday night. They actually would have missed Weaver again, but the 28-year-old righty was scratched from his start Sunday with a stomach illness. Coincidentally, so was Clay Buchholz, the Red Sox’ starter for Monday.

Weaver is an incredible 6-0 this season, making him just the fifth pitcher since 1900 to win at least six games in April. In addition to wins, he also leads the American League in ERA (0.99) and strikeouts (49) and is second in WHIP (0.79). Weaver’s last two victories have been of the complete game variety. He has allowed just one run on 13 hits and a walk while striking out 18 in that span.

If you’re looking for a reason to be optimistic, though, Weaver is just 2-4 with a 4.40 ERA in 10 career starts against Boston. Two of those losses came last season, when he had a 6.00 ERA in two starts. David Ortiz has had the most success against Weaver, as he is hitting .323 with three home runs and 10 RBIs in 31 career at-bats. Kevin Youkilis has a pair of homers off him, but he’s hitting just .200 in 30 ABs. Dustin Pedroia has struggled the most, batting .136 with no RBIs in 22 ABs.

For Boston, Buchholz is just 1-3 with a 5.33 ERA this season. After appearing to take a step in the right direction with a win over the Athletics two starts ago, Buchholz struggled in a loss to the Orioles on Tuesday despite the fact that it was his longest outing of the season. He gave up four runs on 12 hits and two walks over 6 2/3 innings.

He has done well against the Angels, though, as he is 4-2 with a 4.17 ERA in six career starts. Moreover, current Angels are hitting just .185 against him, with no one batting better than Alberto Callaspo‘s .286 mark. Bobby Abreu is the only Angel with a homer off Buchholz (he has two), but he’s hitting just .235 in 17 at-bats. Erick Aybar has had a miserable time with Buchholz, as he has yet to reach base in 15 plate appearances against him. Read the rest of this entry »

John Lackey turned one of his best-pitched games as a member of the Red Sox Sunday. (AP)

(Click here to listen to postgame interview with Carl Crawford)

One game away.

That’s what the Red Sox find themselves from hitting the magical .500 mark after completing a four-game sweep of the Angels courtesy of a 7-0 win Sunday afternoon in Anaheim. The Sox now stand at 10-11, the identical mark they possessed after 21 games last season.

The win marked the first time since 1980 the Red Sox completed a four-game sweep against the Angels in Anaheim since 1980. The victory also made the Sox’ 8-1 since April 16, the best mark in the majors over that time. During the eight games leading into the series finale, the Sox starting pitchers had  combined for a 6-1 mark with a 1.01 ERA, limiting opponents to a .152 batting average.

The Red Sox starters also matched a stretch not seen since 1946, allowing two runs or less while totaling more than five innings or more in each of the last nine games.

Sunday it was John Lackey who carried the torch. The starting pitcher was one of more than a few things that went right for the Sox in their latest win.

WHAT WENT RIGHT

– Lackey was in control all day, notching 23 first-pitch strikes to his 32 batters, while going to just three three-ball counts. When it was all said and done, the righty had gone eight innings, giving up six hits, and one walk while striking out six. It marked the second time in Lackey’s Red Sox career that he came out of a start without giving up a run.

– Reliever Dan Wheeler, who had allowed at least one run in four of his seven previous appearances, cruised through the ninth to keep the shutout intact.

– Carl Crawford actually smiled. The grin game after his third at-bat of the game, when the outfielder worked his way back from an 0-2 count, made it 3-2, and proceeded to launch his first home run as a member of the Red Sox over the right-field fence. Crawford, who raised his average to .171, capped his day with a single in his next at-bat.

– The Red Sox answered a persisting problem by going 4-for-8 with runners in scoring position. The Sox, who were last in the majors in such situations, were helped mightily by Adrian Gonzalez, who went 3-for-5 with two RBIs.

– Jacoby Ellsbury continued to show signs of life out of the leadoff spot, coming away with a pair of hits, along with the Red Sox’ first run. His strikeout rate continued to be somewhat of a concern (2 more), but the outfielder now has his highest batting average (.219) since the third game of the season. He also finished the series 6-for-18 with two walks and four runs.

– With the red-hot Jed Lowrie getting a day off, Marco Scutaro returned to the starting lineup at shortstop and came away with a pair of hits.

WHAT WENT WRONG

– While Ellsbury has been more of a presence in the leadoff spot of late, his stolen base percentage isn’t what he would probably like. The speedster was thrown out for the third time this season, having made eight attempts.

– Mike Cameron is still getting used to a new role, going 0-for-4 while replacing J.D. Drew in right field Sunday, with the veteran’s average dropping to .136. It was just Cameron’s seventh game, which has included three hits (no extra-base hits) in 24 at-bats.

The second game of the Red Sox and Angels’ four-game set will feature what appeared to be the premier pitching matchup of the series going in, although it will now have to be pretty special to top Thursday night’s. Jon Lester, who has been solid in three starts since his struggles on opening day, will do battle with Dan Haren, who is 4-0 and has been virtually untouchable this year.

Haren will be looking to become the second Angels starter to reach 5-0 already this season after Jered Weaver accomplished the feat with a win Wednesday. Haren enters Friday’s game with a miniscule 1.16 ERA and 0.65 WHIP. He has allowed just 18 hits and two walks while striking out 27 over 31 innings.

Haren is just 2-5 in his career against Boston, but that record isn’t really indicative of his actual success. In eight starts, he has a 3.21 ERA and 1.18 WHIP. Moreover, current Red Sox are hitting just .217 against him.

Adrian Gonzalez has faced Haren the most, dating back to their days together in the NL West. Gonzalez has also been one of the few Sox to have any sort of success against him, hitting .289 with two home runs and six RBIs in 38 at-bats. David Ortiz has also done well in his 19 at-bats against the righty, as he is batting .368 with three homers and six RBIs.

Lester enters Friday’s showdown with a 1-1 record and 3.20 ERA. Since giving up five runs in 5 1/3 innings on opening day, he has allowed just four runs over 20 innings in his last three starts.

Lester hasn’t fared too well in his career against the Angels despite having a 2-1 record in five starts. He has a 5.86 ERA and 1.77 WHIP versus the Halos. Torii Hunter has the best track record against him, as he is hitting .385 with a homer and four RBIs in 13 career at-bats against the lefty. Read the rest of this entry »

Josh Beckett

The Red Sox continue their West Coast swing Thursday night against the Angels. After picking up their first road win of the season Wednesday against the Athletics, the Sox will look to make it two straight when they face rookie Tyler Chatwood.

Chatwood, who has never faced Boston or any of its hitters, is 1-1 with a 3.75 ERA in two career starts. The 21-year-old right-hander gave up four runs over five innings in a loss to the Indians in his big league debut on April 11. He followed that up with a stellar seven-inning, one-run effort Saturday in a win over the White Sox. The victory made Chatwood the youngest Angel to win a game since Francisco Rodriguez in April 2003.

Opposing Chatwood will be Josh Beckett, who has been nothing short of spectacular recently. After losing to the Indians in his first start of the season, Beckett has won his last two outings with a pair of dominant performances against the Yankees and Blue Jays. In 15 innings over that span, he has given up just one run on five hits and three walks while striking out 19.

Beckett hasn’t been quite as dominant against the Angels in his career, as he is 3-4 with a 4.52 ERA in 10 starts against them. Vernon Wells has had more success against Beckett than any other Angel. He is hitting .316 with five home runs and eight RBIs in 38 career at-bats against the right-hander.

Another interesting matchup will be Beckett vs. Bobby Abreu. An incredible 45 of their 98 meetings have resulted in the ball not even being put in play. Beckett has struck Abreu out a staggering 25 times, but he has also walked him 20 times. Overall, Abreu is hitting just .192 against Beckett, but he does have two home runs and seven RBIs and the 20 walks boost his on-base percentage to a respectable .357. Read the rest of this entry »

A Red Sox instructor became part of history when Jim Edmonds made this catch (AP)

FORT MYERS, Fla. — With the news on Friday of Jim Edmonds‘ retirement, it was inevitable. Every mention of the conclusion of his career would have an accompaniment in the form of a replay of The Catch.

Little explanation is required to conjure the image. Edmonds, then the Angels center fielder covered a seemingly impossible distance, running back to the plate. He dove full out, caught the ball and held on. As he lay on the ground, he rolled over and held the ball up in his left hand before collapsing on the warning track.

Edmonds had an exceptional career. He was viewed as one of the best defensive center fielders of his generation, if not all time, and he also delivered 393 homers while hitting .284 with a .376 OBP, .527 slugging mark and .903 OPS. A strong case can be made for him among the top center fielders in major league history.

But mention his name, and it is The Catch that instantly comes to mind. And so it was that David Howard, the Red Sox minor league field coordinator, saw it replayed on Friday — in connection with the news of Edmonds’ retirement — while riding an exercise bike next to big league coaching assistant Rob Leary.

The reaction was obvious.

“‘It’s me!’” Howard yelled to Leary. Read the rest of this entry »