Thursday, April 28, 2011

Red Sox vs. Orioles (April 28, 2011)

Red Sox (10-13) @ Baltimore Orioles (10-12)

SP - Jon Lester (2-1, 2.59) vs. Brad Bergesen (0-3, 5.40)

1. Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
2. Dustin Pedroia, 2B
3. Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
4. Kevin Youkilis, 3B
5. David Ortiz, DH
6. J.D. Drew, RF
7. Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C
8. Carl Crawford, LF
9. Marco Scutaro, SS

Three Strikes:

1. If the rain cooperates, Lester should help end this mini two-game losing streak.  Not only is he off to his best April start of his career but he also has a record of 13-0 with a 2.33 ERA in 16 career starts against the O's.

2. The slow start has taken some of the focus off of David Ortiz' solid April.  This is not the MVP "Big Papi" of a few years ago but I'm very happy with him hitting .274 with 2 HR, 10 RBI, and a very impressive .393 OBP.  If he keeps it up all season, the Red Sox will have a tough decision to make because Ortiz can become a free agent this winter.

3. My pick of Carl Crawford for MVP is looking worse every day.

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