Boston @ Oakland preview
Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum
Last Meeting ( Jul 20, 2010 ) Boston 4, Oakland 5
The Boston Red Sox get back one of their injured standouts Wednesday afternoon when All-Star pitcher Clay Buchholz returns to start against the Oakland Athletics in the final game of a three-game series in Oakland.
Buchholz has been on the disabled list with a hamstring injury suffered while running the bases during a June 26 contest against the San Francisco Giants.
The injury forced Buchholz (10-4) to miss last week’s All-Star game.
Buchholz has a 2.45 earned-run average, a figure that would lead the American League if he had pitched one more inning this season. The current qualifying standard is 93 innings – Buchholz is at 92.
Buchholz has won seven of his last eight decisions and allowed two runs or less in six of the outings.
The right-hander has been especially stout on the road, going 5-1 with a 1.70 ERA in seven road starts.
Buchholz will attempt to help the Red Sox win the series. The Red Sox won 2-1 on Monday and Oakland rallied from a four-run deficit for a 5-4 victory on Tuesday. Third baseman Kevin Kouzmanoff delivered the game-winning single in the bottom of 10th for the Athletics.
Oakland has been victorious in six of its last seven games and has gone 13-7 over its last 20 contests.
The Athletics sent left-hander Gio Gonzalez to the mound today, and he’s been superb during matinee outings.
Gonzalez hasn’t lost in five afternoon starts, going 4-0 with a major league-leading daylight ERA of 1.30.
Gonzalez also has pitched well at night of late with a 2.05 ERA in his last five starts. He allowed no runs in two of those starts and one run in two others.
Overall, Gonzalez is 8-6 with a 3.63 ERA. Wildness has been a problem, as only C.J. Wilson (60) of Texas has walked more hitters among American League pitchers than Gonzalez (54).
Boston third baseman Adrian Beltre is 5-for-10 (.500) with a homer and four RBIs against Gonzalez. Beltre also is the midst of a hot streak, having gone 5-for-9 in the series and 8-for-20 (.400) over the last five games.
Beltre hit the decisive homer in Monday’s contest.
The Athletics scored just one run in the first 11 innings of the series before erupting for four runs in the third inning on Tuesday. Oakland scored 40 runs during its recently concluded five-game winning streak.
Kouzmanoff returned to the lineup Tuesday after missing Monday’s game with a stiff back. He had two RBIs and now has driven in nine runs in his last four games.
The Athletics stole three bases Tuesday. Rajai Davis swiped his 29th base, third best in the American League. Coco Crisp and Daric Barton also had steals.