Chowder and Champions
Fansided

Boston Red Sox vs Kansas City Royals: Two teams, two different directions

By Jason Haskins

WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 04: Eduardo Nunez #36 of the Boston Red Sox celebrates a win with teammates after a baseball game against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park on July 4, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 04: Eduardo Nunez #36 of the Boston Red Sox celebrates a win with teammates after a baseball game against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park on July 4, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
3 of 3
Next
(Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
(Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images) /

The starting pitchers

Chris Sale will get things started on Friday for the Boston Red Sox.

Sale (8-4, 2.41 ERA, 164 K’s) has picked of wins in three of his last four outings ( a no-decision was among the four). He’s coming off a 11-0 victory over the New York Yankees, in which he struck out 11. Over his last five starts, Sale has 54 strikeouts.

David Price will look to shake off one his worst outings of the season when he takes the hill on Saturday. Price continued to struggle in Boston uniform against the Yankees, giving up nine hits and eight runs in 3.1 innings last Sunday night.

Rick Porcello (10-3, 3.57 ERA) will close out the series. Porcello is currently tied for the team lead in wins with Eduardo Rodriguez, most recently defeating the Nationals. Porcello allowed two runs in six innings and even flexed his muscles at the plate by clearing the bases on a bases loaded double in the first.

The Royals will counter with Jason Hammel (2-10, 5.56 ERA), Brad Keller (2-3, 2.09 ERA), and Jakob Junis (5-10, 5.13 ERA) in that order.

Hammel has allowed 15 runs (13 earned) in his last two starts while Junis has lost seven straight decisions. Junis has been one of the few bright spots in the Royals rotation, but will making only his seventh start in 2018.

Next: Boston Red Sox: Top 5 greatest hitters in franchise history

On paper, this should be a breezy three-game sweep for the Red Sox. With seven straight home games before the all-star game, taking three from the Royals would be the perfect way to cap this road trip.

Home/Boston Red Sox