The Boston Red Sox have found a fifth starter in Roenis Elias. Elias will make his first start of the season later tonight ironically against his former team, the Seattle Mariners. Will Elias hush the M’s? Or will Seattle show no love to one of its former pitchers? Read on for more about this game. You can also check out our preview of Brewers vs. Dodgers.
After snapping a four-game skid with a 6-4 win over Tampa Bay on Thursday, the Mariners will navigate their way to Fenway Park, where they’ll begin a three-game series against Boston. The Mariners are 4-2 in their last six games there.
On the mound for Seattle later tonight will be Hisashi Iwakuma, who is 5-5 with a 4.10 ERA in 13 starts thus far this year. Iwakuma has been on a roll of late, winning four of his last five starts, while accumulating a 3.71 ERA during that stretch. That includes a 7-5 win over Texas on June 10, when Iwakuma allowed gave up three earned runs on seven hits.
Iwakuma also has the Mariners’ hitters to thank for his recent success. He’s been receiving a healthy 6.59 RS/9 this season.
Seattle is currently fifth in the big leagues in runs (324) and 11th in batting average (.259), while also placing inside the top 10 of on-base percentage and slugging percentage.
As usual, the pair of Nelson Cruz and Robinson Cano has been dealing most of the damage to opposing pitchers for Seattle. Cruz has gone 10-for25 (.400) with a home run and three RBI in his last six games. Cano, on the other hand, is 9-for-29 (.310) with a couple of dingers and three RBI in the same stretch. Cano seems to like the atmosphere in Fenway Park, as he is a career .340 hitter there with six homers and 22 RBI.
Betting on the Boston Red Sox
A former Mariner will be on the mound for Boston later tonight, as the Red Sox gives the ball to lefty Roenis Elias.
Elias, who spent his first two major league season in Seattle, is making his first start of the season after getting called up from the minors. He made one appearance for the Red Sox this year but was rocked hard in an 8-3 loss to Houston on April 23, when he allowed three runs and four hits in just 1.2 innings of action.
The Red Sox, however, felt that Elias could have a good outing against the lefty-heavy lineup of Seattle. The Mariners have seven lefty hitters, tied for most in the majors, and are batting just .209 in lefty vs. lefty scenarios this year.
As for their own hitters, the Red Sox are counting on Xander Bogaerts and David Ortiz to sustain their impressive plays. Bogaerts is 12-for-23 (.522) with two home runs and nine RBI in the last six games. Ortiz, meanwhile, is 8-for-23 (.348) durin the same stretch but more than that, he’s also 4-for-8 with a couple of blasts off Mariners starter Iwakuma.
