The Red Sox will kick off a three-game series in Minnesota by giving the ball to Eduardo Rodriguez, who’s getting steadier each start.
After giving up six earned runs in 10.1 total innings in his first two starts, Rodriguez has righted his ship and has since allowed just one run over 13 innings across three starts. In his last mound duty, the lefty held the defending World Series champs Cubs to only one run on five hits in six innings while picking up a no-decision in a 6-2 victory on Apr. 30. Boston is 3-1 in Rodriguez’s last four road starts.
Rodriguez (1-0, 2.70 ERA) will look to do better in Minnesota than in his last appearance there in which he surrendered four earned runs in six hits in 4.1 frames of a 15-4 road win on Jun. 11 of last year.
Rodriguez will be backed by Boston’s offense that’s hoping to benefit from the seeming familiarity of Xander Bogaerts and Dustin Pedroia to Minnesota starter Phil Hughes’s pitches. Bogaerts is 5-for-12 in his career against Hughes. Pedroia, on the other hand, is 16-for-41 with five home runs in the same matchup.
Phil Hughes must be compelled to treat Minnesota’s hitters to free dinner. Hughes is 4-1 despite a high 5.06 ERA, thanks to the Twins’ offense showing up whenever it’s his turn to take the mound.
The last time he was on the mound, Hughes allowed four earned runs in just 5.2 innings pitched of a 7-5 win over Kansas City on Apr. 30. He’s made just one start at home so far this year and it was a forgettable one, as he yielded four runs on eight hits on a short 3.1 innings worth of stint in an 11-4 loss to Cleveland back in Apr. 18. Last season, Hughes was 1-4 with a 6.27 ERA in seven total appearances at Target Field.
Eddie Rosario is heating up at the plate of late. The left fielder is 8-for-19 with a homer in his past five games as of this writing. Miguel Sano is 7-for-20 with three blasts over the same stretch while driving 11 runs.
