Philadelphia @ Boston preview

Last Meeting ( Apr 9, 2015 ) Boston 6, Philadelphia 2

The last time the Boston Red Sox faced the Philadelphia Phillies, expectations were high and Hanley Ramirez was looking well worth the huge expense of bringing him in to play left field as a free agent. The Red Sox will have an entirely different look when they host the Phillies in the opener of a three-game interleague series on Friday.

Ramirez homered twice in the season opener in Philadelphia and belted 10 homers in April before tailing off with a total of 19 before the All-Star break and none since. The left field experiment is apparently over, and Ramirez will try his hand at first base whenever he recovers from a sore right shoulder that kept him out of the lineup while Boston was opening its homestand with losses in two of three to the rival New York Yankees. The Phillies enter the series as a last-place team as well but entered 2015 with far lower expectations before dropping steadily to the bottom of the National League East. Philadelphia will try to improve its 23-46 road record behind left-hander Adam Morgan while Red Sox righty Joe Kelly tries to carry an encouraging August into September.

TV: 7:10 p.m. ET, CSN Philadelphia, NESN (Boston)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Phillies LH Adam Morgan (5-4, 4.03 ERA) vs. Red Sox RH Joe Kelly (8-6, 4.94)

Morgan has provided one of the few bright spots for Philadelphia in 2015 and will try to post his third win in four starts after yielding two unearned runs on four hits over six innings against San Diego on Saturday. The rookie has not issued a walk in any of his last four starts and only 14 in 67 total innings at the major-league level. Morgan is making his first start against Boston and is 2-3 with a 4.03 ERA in five road starts.

Kelly went 6-0 in August and allowed two or fewer earned runs in each of the last five outings. The California native limited the New York Mets to one run and five hits in 7 1/3 frames while outdueling Jacob deGrom on Saturday. Kelly is 2-0 with a total of one earned run and nine hits allowed in 12 innings over his last two home starts – wins over Seattle and Cleveland.

WALK-OFFS

1. Phillies RF Domonic Brown was removed from the game amid concussion concerns after flipping over the wall trying to catch a fly ball on Wednesday.

2. Boston C Blake Swihart is 19-for-40 over his last 11 games.

3. Philadelphia 3B Maikel Franco (wrist) took batting practice on Wednesday but is not ready to return.

PREDICTION: Red Sox 6, Phillies 2