Thanks to Jarren Duran doing his best Sonic the Hedgehog impression on Sunday (gotta go fast!) the Red Sox did not get swept by the Pittsburgh Pirates. And they snapped their five-game Fenway Park losing streak. Now they welcome in the Cleveland Guardians. When they last played back in April the Sox took two of the three games in Cleveland. The Guardians were in 2nd place in the AL Central, just 1.5 games behind the Detroit Tigers. Now they sit 10.5 games out of the division and 4.0 games out of the third
Wild Card in the American League. After years of somehow “making it work” the Guardians have seemingly run out of (playoff) gas. But they’re no pushover.
Parker Messick is a rookie southpaw with just two major league starts. And they’ve both been good. Against the Arizona Diamondbacks he allowed one run in 6.2 innings with 7 hits, 6 Ks, and a single walk. Then against the Tampa Bay Rays he went 7.0 strong allowing no runs while giving up just 4 hits and striking out 6. No walks. Thankfully both of those starts were against the August versions of those teams that have been largely eliminated from the playoff race. And the Sox have hit lefties very well this season. Expect Romy & Refsnyder (coming soon to TNT as a drama set on the gritty streets of somewhere solving mysteries ripped from the headlines) to do their thing.
Next up is Slade, a righty and probable Daywalker. He’s a step back from the rookie. Only in the majors since May, he didn’t face Boston earlier this season. Over his last five starts he’s allowed 7 home runs and has been knocked around by the Atlanta Braves and Chicago White Sox.
While everyone is looking forward to Payton Tolle’s next start, the Red Sox may choose to keep him on a longer start cycle with extra rest as part of the innings-building process for his career. Having tossed about 80 innings each of the last two seasons and nearly 100 this year, Tolle is nearing his 2025 limit as the Sox prepare him for a majors league workload. This might mean that Kyle Harrison, acquired in the Rafael Devers trade and scratched from his Sunday start in Worcester, is tapped for the Wednesday game against the Guardians.
Harrison hasn’t exactly been lighting the world on fire in Triple A. Over 6 starts for Worcester, Harrison has a 3.65 ERA in 49 innings. He’s struck out 48 and walked 26. That’s a K:BB of 1.85 . Across three levels in the minors this yea, Tolle struck out 130 in about 90 innings of work and walked just 23. Harrison does have MLB experience with the Giants. And he has been working on a pitch makeover with the Red Sox. But this one might be a rough debut with his new team.
Mired in a bit of a slump, Alex Bregman broke out yesterday.
Romy Gonzalez showed what he could do against Paul Skenes. Will it earn him a little more playing time against righties?
Connor Wong has regained some presence at the plate.
Carlos Santana, a multi-time Guardian, has hit .256/.377/.460 against the Red Sox his his career but was just released and moved to the Chicago Cubs.
Probable Pitching Matchups
Monday, September 1: Parker Messick (0.66 ERA / 1.58 FIP) vs. Brayan Bello (2.99 ERA / 4.09 FIP)
Tuesday, September 2: Slade Cecconi (4.41 ERA / 4.89 FIP) vs. TBD (2.40 ERA / 2.63 FIP)
Wednesday, September 3: TBD (— ERA / — FIP) vs. TBD (— ERA / — FIP)P
When/Where to Watch
Monday September 1: 1:35 PM ET on NESN
Tuesday September 2: 6:45 PM ET on NESN
Wednesday, September 3: 6:45 PM ET on NESN
