Erik Bedard

The Red Sox finish their doubleheader against the Athletics Saturday at 5 p.m. The Red Sox will try to finish the series strong before getting two days off before welcoming the Yankees to town.

Erik Bedard (4-9, 3.57 ERA) takes the mound in the nightcap, still looking for his first win with the Red Sox. Bedard pitched well for the first five innings of his Aug. 22 start against the Rangers but then allowed three runs in the sixth to put the game out of reach against Red Sox killer C.J. Wilson. More encouraging than the loss was Bedard’s 108 total pitches, the most since June 5 with the Mariners. Bedard also walked fewer than two batters for the third time in four starts with the Red Sox.

Bedard last faced the Athletics in 2009, going 2-0 with a 0.60 ERA. Though 4-3 with a 2.89 ERA lifetime against Oakland, Bedard has dominated the A’s recently, winning his last four decisions dating back to July 20, 2007.

Only five Athletics have faced Bedard, and of them Hideki Matsui poses the biggest challenge. Matsui is batting .409 with a .458 OBP against Bedard, and his four RBIs are the only RBIs Oakland has. Conor Jackson’s double is the only extra-base hit. The Athletics collectively bat .197 with a .279 OBP and .213 slugging against Bedard.

Graham Godfrey (1-1, 4.24 ERA) will be making just his fourth career appearance in the big leagues, and his first since June 23. The 27-year-old was drafted out of the College of Charleston by the Blue Jays in the 34th round of the 2006 draft, and was traded to Oakland for Marco Scutaro in 2007. In five minor league seasons, Godfrey is 39-34 with a 4.14 ERA and a WHIP of 1.38

Godfrey did not fare well in his major league debut against the White Sox on June 10, when he allowed five runs on nine hits and a home run over 4 1/3 innings. He showed significant improvement in his next start, holding the Giants to one run on six hits through seven innings to earn his first career win. Godfrey has thrown at least 90 pitches in each of this three starts.

The right-hander has struggled on the road, allowing nine of his 11 runs away from home and allowing opposing batters to hit .349, compared with .222 at home. Right-handers have dominated Godfrey, hitting .400 with two home runs in 12 combined at-bats. The Oakland starter has yet to face the Red Sox, who lead the league in batting average and slugging percentage, and rank second in runs scored and on-base percentage.

Athletics vs. Bedard

Hideki Matsui (24 plate appearances): .409 BA/.458 OBP/.409 SLG, 4 RBIs

Coco Crisp (14): .077/.143/.077

Kurt Suzuki (11): .000/.091/.000

David DeJesus (9): .000/.222/.000

Ryan Sweeney (7): .167/.286/.167

Conor Jackson is 1-for-3 with a double in three appearances.

Brandon Allen, Cliff Pennington, Scott Sizemore, Eric Sogard, Jemile Weeks and Josh Willingham have not faced Bedard.

Red Sox vs. Godfrey

No player on the Red Sox roster has faced the Oakland starter.

According to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe, the A’s could look to improve their offense by shopping pitchers like Craig Breslow, Brian Fuentes and Grant Balfour for a big bat.

Oakland has one of the best pitching staffs in the majors with a 3.14 team ERA, but the A’s rank 28th in runs scored. Josh Willingham leads the team with 11 home runs and 44 RBI. As of Tuesday, the A’s are 12 games back of Rangers for first place in the AL West.

John Lackey

John Lackey plans to make his long-awaited return from the DL and his first appearance since May 11 against the A’s Sunday at 1:35 p.m. While the veteran had some obvious struggles to start the season, Oakland will counter with Brett Anderson, a young righty who has dominated the Red Sox to this point in his career.

Lackey (2-5, 8.01 ERA) said he felt good in Tuesday’s rehab start for Triple-A Pawtucket, where he threw 5 2/3 innings of one-run, three-hit ball. Lackey struck out four and walked none but did surrender a home run. The 32-year-old was far from convincing in his last two starts before hitting the DL with an elbow injury, giving up nine runs to the Blue Jays and eight runs to the Angels. In his first seven starts, Lackey surrendered 35 runs and allowed opponents to hit a combined .393. In 15 innings at home, Lackey has allowed 16 runs on 24 hits, while striking out just six batters.

The right-hander will have a chance to get back on track against a familiar opponent, as the Athletics have a combined 287 plate appearances against Lackey, dating back to his AL West days as a member of the Angels. In his nine-year career, the A’s have hit a combined .244 off Lackey with five homers and 25 RBI. However, Oakland has struggled offensively this season, and has the second-lowest run total in the American League.

Mark Ellis has seen the Boston starter a team-high 71 times, hitting .267 with eight doubles, five RBI, and 10 strikeouts. Former Red Sox speedster Coco Crisp has just five hits in 32 plate appearances vs. Lackey, but two of those hits were home runs. Daric Barton has had the most success against the righty, posting a .308 average to go along with a homer, four doubles, and three RBI.

Anderson (3-5, 3.68 ERA) has pitched well for the most part, but a lack of run support has led to three losses in his last four decisions. The 23-year-old pitched brilliantly against the Angels on May 26, throwing a three-hit shutout through eight strong innings. However, he got shelled by the Yankees in his last start, giving up ten runs on eleven hits through 5 1/3 innings. It was by far his worst outing of the year, and ballooned his ERA up from 2.84.

Every Boston regular has seen Anderson at least once, but no one on the roster has faced him more than 15 times. In this limited experience, Anderson has dominated the Red Sox. The left-hander hasn’t allowed a single earned run against Boston, and has held the Sox to a combined .111 average in 94 plate appearances.

Jed Lowrie‘s .222 average against Anderson is a team high, while Kevin Youkilis, Dustin Pedroia, and Adrian Gonzalez are hitting a combined four-for-28 against the A’s starter. Anderson shut down the Red Sox back on April 19, holding them scoreless through eight innings while striking out eight in a 5-0 win.

ATHLETICS VS. LACKEY

Mark Ellis (71 plate appearances): .267 BA/.371 OBP/.400 SLG, eight doubles, five RBI, eight walks, 10 strikeouts

Hideki Matsui (55): .240/.291/.400, one home run, five doubles, nine RBI, four walks, six strikeouts

Coco Crisp (32): .167/.219/.367, tww home runs, two RBI, two walks, three strikeouts

Kurt Suzuki (32): .194/.188/.419, one home run, two doubles, one triple, three RBI, five strikeouts

Daric Barton (28): .308/.357/.557, one home run, four doubles, three RBI, two walks

David DeJesus (24): .273/.273/.273, two RBI, three walks

Ryan Sweeney (19): .333/.368/.389, one double, one RBI, one walk, three strikeouts

Cliff Pennington (15): .071/.133/.071, two strikeouts

Kevin Kouzmanoff (5): 3-for-5, one double, one strikeouts

Landon Powell (3): 1-for-3, one strikeout

Josh Willingham (3): 0-for-3, one strikeout

No other player on the A’s roster has faced Lackey.

RED SOX VS. ANDERSON

Kevin Youkilis (14 plate appearances): .154 BA/.214 OBP/.154 SLG, one walk, six strikeouts

Jarrod Saltalamacchia (13): .077/.077/.077, two strikeouts

Dustin Pedroia (11): .100/.182/.100, one walk, one strikeouts

Carl Crawford (10): .200/.200/.200, two strikeouts

Jacoby Ellsbury (10): .000/.100/.000, one walk, one strikeout

David Ortiz (10): .100/.100/.100, two strikeouts

Jed Lowrie (9): .222./.222/.333, one double, two strikeouts

Jason Varitek (6): 0-for-5, one walk, one strikeout

Adrian Gonzalez (5): 1-for-5, two strikeouts

Mike Cameron (3): 0-for-3, two strikeouts

J.D. Drew (3): 0-for-3, three strikeouts

No other player on the Red Sox roster has faced Anderson.

Good bye, Cy.

The idea that Clay Buchholz might be able to thrust himself into contention for the Cy Young Award was already a longshot. Though he entered Friday with a 15-6 record and an American League-leading 2.25 ERA, the fact that Buchholz had thrown just 151 2/3 innings — more than 60 fewer than Felix Hernandez, and more than 50 fewer than CC Sabathia — suggested that Buchholz would need a remarkable final few starts to have a legitimate shot at pitching’s most prestigious honor.

Any improbable visions were dispelled on Friday night, however, as Buchholz delivered his worst start of the year, and indeed one of the worst of his career. He had little on the mound, failing to record a single out in the second inning while getting shelled for five runs on five hits and four walks. It was the shortest start of his career that did not involve an injury.

Meanwhile, Oakland counterpart Trevor Cahill sailed through the Sox lineup over seven shutout innings as Oakland won, 5-0. (Recap.)

WHAT WENT WRONG FOR THE RED SOX

–Buchholz had been the team’s most consistent performer this year, having allowed two or fewer earned runs in a remarkable 17 of his 24 starts. But Oakland has been his undoing this year, posting two of the three contests in which Buchholz a) failed to record five or more innings and b) allowed five earned runs. For the season, Buchholz now has an 18.00 ERA against Oakland, and a 2.01 ERA against the rest of the majors.

–The Sox suffered their first shutout since June 9, ending a streak of 79 straight games in which they’d scored at least one run, the longest such streak in the majors this year.

–Coco Crisp put on a show for the A’s against his former team. He robbed Ryan Kalish — batting leadoff — of a homer to lead off the game in the top of the first inning, and went 3-for-3 with three steals and a walk.

WHAT WENT RIGHT FOR THE RED SOX

–The Boston bullpen turned in an impressive night to prevent the game from getting out of hand after Buchholz’ departure. Dustin Richardson, who had allowed all five batters he’d faced over his previous three appearances to reach base (four walks and a single), elicited a double play grounder after inheriting a first-and-second, no-out situation in the second, allowing him to avoid any further damage. He produced a pair of shutout innings, the longest relief outing of his career. He was followed into the game by Michael Bowden (two shutout innings), Robert Coello (two shutout innings) and Robert Manuel (shutout inning).

–Ryan Kalish, in addition to nearly hitting a homer to lead off the game before it was pulled back by Crisp, also once again demonstrated his strong arm, cutting down Crisp at third with a strong throw on a fly out to center.

–Josh Reddick continued his impressive run, as his double improved him to 5-for-10 since his call-up earlier in the week, a continuation of his scorching conclusion of the season with Triple-A Pawtucket.

–Lars Anderson, playing his first big league game in the ballpark where he grew up attending games, drew his first career walk. For more on Anderson’s homecoming, click here.

John Lackey

After going 18-11 in the month of May, the Red Sox begin June in a better standing in the American League East. Following an April in which Boston went below .500 with an 11-12 record, the Sox picked up their play and closed the gap to five games between them and the division-leading Rays in May. Now, Boston will open up the new month with a three-game series at Fenway Park against the Athletics. Lefty Gio Gonzalez will be on the mound in Tuesday night’s opener for Oakland while John Lackey will look to continue his success against the Athletics from his days in an Angels uniform.

In only his second full season in the majors, Gonzalez is 5-3 with a 3.54 ERA. After going 6-7 last year, he’s only one win away from reaching his victory total of 2009. Gonzalez has been even better in his last three starts, in which he’s 2-0 with a 2.53 ERA, including an eight-inning gem against the Giants on May 22. He outdueled Matt Cain in a 1-0 win, allowing only two hits and one walk.

During a season when he had control issues, Gonzalez walked four hitters in his only start against Boston last year at Fenway Park. He gave up five hits and three runs while striking out eight to earn a no-decision in a 5-8 loss. Gonzalez has improved his control this season, walking 27 batters through 61 innings after allowing 56 free passes in 98 2/3 innings last year.

Opposing Gonzalez will be Lackey, who is no stranger to the Athletics lineup. In 29 career starts against Oakland, he’s 16-4 with a 2.76 ERA — his most wins over any opponent and his lowest ERA against any team he’s faced more than twice. Despite struggling at times this season, Lackey had a solid outing in his last start against Tampa Bay, allowing two runs on eight hits over 6 1/3 innings.

Prior to his win against the Rays, Lackey was on a two-game losing streak and had allowed 15 runs over three starts. The righty also has had problems finding the strike zone this year and has a concerning walk-strikeout ratio (30 walks, 35 strikeouts). Facing a familiar opponent in the Athletics, Lackey will attempt to find a rhythm and continue a consistent pace through the rest of the season. Read the rest of this entry »

The Boston Red Sox hope to return to their winning ways on Thursday afternoon. Jon Lester takes the ball for the Red Sox as rain threatens this 1:35pm afternoon start. For the complete preview, CLICK HERE. With that said, here is the starting lineup for the Boston Red Sox as they finish up their four game series with the Oakland Athletics:

Ellsbury – CF
Pedroia – 2B
Youkilis – 1B
Bay – LF
Ortiz – DH
Lowell – 3B
Drew – RF
Varitek – C
Green – SS

Here are some pre-game notes:

Tim Wakefield – It is not clear if he needs a rehab assignment; A simulated game might suffice.

John Smoltz – He is bouncing back well between starts and has been testing well from strength standpoint. There is no physical reason to skip starts.

Jason Bay and Kevin Youkilis – Terry Francona said “they’re missing pitches – that will change”