Chicago @ Boston preview
Fenway Park
Last Meeting ( Sep 4, 2010 ) Chi. White Sox 3, Boston 1
Thanks to Hurricane Earl, the Boston Red Sox and Chicago White Sox will play a doubleheader on Saturday.
So much was expected, in fact, that the Massachusetts governor declared a state of emergency in preparation for the storm.
As it stands, Fenway Park is still standing and the first game will start at 1:05 p.m. while nightcap is scheduled for 7:10 p.m.
In the second game, Boston will send John Lackey (12-8, 4.60 ERA) to the hill against Chicago's Gavin Floyd (9-11, 3.86 ERA).
Lackey has struggled mightily in his last six outings - with just two wins to show for it. The 31-year-old right-hander permitted five runs and nine hits in 6 1/3 innings in a loss to the Tampa Bay Rays.
Boston will need Lackey to right the ship if it hopes to improve its playoff hopes. The Red Sox trail the Tampa Bay Rays by seven games for the AL wild-card berth. They are 8.5 games behind the AL East-leading New York Yankees.
For his part, Floyd is slowly returning to form.
The fourth overall pick of the 2001 draft, Floyd has pitched well in his last two outings - surrendering just two runs n both contests. He was on the wrong end of a 2-1 loss to the New York Yankees on Sunday.
The Red Sox will have their ace, Clay Buchholz, ready for the afternoon tilt.
Buchholz (15-5) has won his last five decisions. He didn’t figure in the decision in his last outing, a 3-2 loss to Tampa Bay. Buchholz took a 2-1 lead into the eighth inning before surrendering a game-tying home run to B.J. Upton. It was the first earned run he allowed in over 30 innings.
On the other side, John Danks has had little success against Boston. Danks is 1-4 lifetime against the Red Sox with a 5.08 ERA.
Danks was hammered by the Yankees in his last outing and is winless in his last four starts. He does, however, have an impressive 3.65 ERA with 135 strikeouts on the year.
Although they didn't play on Friday, the Red Sox officially lost the services of second baseman Dustin Pedroia, who underwent surgery on his broken foot.
Pedroia played 73 games before breaking his foot on a foul ball on June 25 against the San Francisco Giants. He returned to play two more games but complained the foot was sore again.
On Friday, he had a screw inserted into the foot the speed up the healing process and guarantee he would ready for spring training.