Los Angeles @ Boston preview
Fenway Park
Last Meeting ( May 5, 2010 ) LA Angels 1, Boston 3
Daisuke Matsuzaka has a lot of memories from the past year he'd like to erase. Among them is a forgettable season debut in Baltimore last Saturday.
The Boston Red Sox right-hander makes his first home start of the season tonight at Fenway Park and couldn't ask for a better opponent to help him get on track.
In the finale of a four-game series, the Red Sox will go for a sweep against the staggering Los Angeles Angels, who are 0-for-May and have lost the first six of their current 10-game road trip.
The Angels have shown no resemblance to the team that swept Boston in the American League Division Series last season, mainly because of a feeble offense that has scored two runs or fewer 10 times in 29 games.
Los Angeles has managed a paltry 13 runs in its last five games – and eight of those came in a 17-8 shellacking by the Red Sox on Monday night.
The Angels have managed only a single run in three of their last four losses, wasting outstanding pitching performances by Joel Piñeiro and Ervin Santana.
And from the kick-a-team-when-its-down files, Los Angeles watched its bats turned to sawdust by former ace John Lackey, who held the Angels to two hits in seven innings Wednesday night.
Three of the biggest culprits for the offensive ineptitude have been Bobby Abreu, Torii Hunter and Hideki Matsui, who have gone a combined 5-for-52 this month.
Facing Matsuzaka, who spent the entire month of April on the disabled list and was battered by the Orioles for seven runs in 4 2/3 innings in his first start of the season, could be cause for optimism. But the Angels went down this road before with Matsuzaka and provided a get-well moment for the Japanese righty.
On Sept. 15, 2009, Matsuzaka came off a three-month stint on the DL and held the Angels to three hits in six scoreless innings. It was his first win at Fenway in an injury-plagued season that saw him make just 12 starts and finish 4-6 with a 5.76 ERA.
Opposing Matsuzaka will be left-hander Scott Kazmir, who is more familiar to some of the Red Sox players than members of their own families.
Dating to his days with Tampa Bay, Kazmir has already made 23 career starts against Boston, posting an 8-7 record and 3.59 ERA.
Kazmir has drawn the short straw among the team’s starters this season, facing the potent lineups of the New York Yankees and Detroit Tigers twice each in his four outings.
His last time out was his best performance of the young season, limiting Detroit to two runs and five hits while striking out seven in six innings.