Success is finally starting to come to Drew Pomeranz (10-9, 2.95 ERA) as a Red Sox. After failing to get a win in any of his first five starts since being traded to Boston from San Diego last July, Pomeranz is now 2-0 with a 2.13 ERA in his last two starts.
That stretch includes a 3-2 win over Detroit on August 20, when Pomeranz pitched for five innings, allowing just one earned run (a home run) and four hits. Up next for Pomeranz is a tasty matchup with the going nowhere Rays, who are among the poorest offensive teams in the majors. The Rays are batting just .241 on the season, the third worst in the big leagues.
Moreover, Pomeranz has good memories of his last and so far lone start at Tropicana Field. That was when he pitched for five scoreless innings and yielded three hits as part of the Oakland rotation in a 4-1 win back in 2014.
Pomeranz will be backed by Boston’s offense that supplies its starters with 6.22 worth of runs support per nine innings—the most in the majors. Boston hammered Rays starter Jake Odorizzi the last time the Red Sox saw him, as the Red Sox pounded out four runs and six hits off Odorizzi in a 4-0 road victory on July 10.
Jake Odorizzi (8-5, 3.63 ERA) is quietly having a fantastic month. Odorizzi comes into tonight’s ball game carrying a 3-0 record and a 2.31 ERA in four starts thus far this August. He’ll look to keep his August record unblemished as he tries to hush Boston’s bats.
Odorizzi was sterling the last time he took the mound, pitching for six innings and allowing only one earned run on six hits of an 8-2 win over Texas on August 20.
Although the Rays’ offense has been horrible this season, Odorizzi somehow is getting a lot of love from Tampa Bay’s hitters of late, as he’s received 11.57 RS/9 this month.
Speaking of Tampa Bay batters, shortstop Tim Beckham is 6-for-17 (.353) with a couple of triples in his last five games. Matt Duffy, meanwhile, is 4-for-16 (.250) during the same span.
