Toronto Blue Jays @ Boston Red Sox
Wednesday, September 6, 7:10 PM ET , Fenway Park
Doug Fister, RHP... ERA- 4.19, FIP- 4.21, xFIP-4.54, WAR- 0.8
The sinkerballer has been one of the best stories of the second half for the Red Sox. Since being claimed off waivers from the Angels in late June, Fister is 4-2 with a 3.05 ERA while filling in for the injured David Price.
Joe Biagini, RHP... ERA- 5.01, FIP- 3.76, xFIP- 3.79, WAR- 1.6
Joe Biagini is coming off his best start of the season. He didn't allow a run and struck out a career-high 10 batters in his last outing against the Orioles. The seven innings matched a career high, something he did twice before.
Tonights' Line-ups...
Boston Red Sox
1. Eduardo Nunez ® 2B
2. Dustin Pedroia ® DH
3. Andrew Benintendi (L) LF
4. Mookie Betts ® RF
5. Mitch Moreland (L) 1B
6. Xander Bogaerts ® SS
7. Rafael Devers (L) 3B
8. Sandy Leon (S) C
9. Jackie Bradley Jr. (L) CF
Toronto Blue Jays
1. Ezequiel Carrera (L) RF
2. Teoscar Hernandez ® CF
3. Justin Smoak (S) 1B
4. Kendrys Morales (S) DH
5. Michael Saunders (L) LF
6. Miguel Montero (L) C
7. Darwin Barney ® 3B
8. Ryan Goins (L) 2B
9. Richard Urena (S) SS
Preview...
By Gregor Chisholm / MLB.com
Doug Fister has been better than the Red Sox ever could have hoped for, and he'll look to continue his bounce-back season on Wednesday night against the Blue Jays at Fenway Park.
Fister has allowed two earned runs or fewer in three consecutive starts, and he has gone at least seven innings in each of those outings. Outside of one rough outing vs. Cleveland on Aug. 14, Fister has been lights out since rejoining the rotation on July 31.
As Boston makes a run at an American League East title -- it holds a 3 1/2-game lead over the Yankees in the division -- Fister will be looking to secure his spot in a possible postseason rotation. That would have seemed extremely unlikely a couple of months ago, but the recent string of quality starts has changed all of that.
"Every start is a big start. A big day," Fister said. "And that's the outlook, that's the focus I take every time out. I try to break it down every pitch and keep it simple, but it's definitely fun to be in a race. We have a task to do every day."
Toronto will counter with right-hander Joe Biagini, who is coming off arguably the best start of his career. Biagini struck out a career-high 10 batters and didn't allow a run over seven quality innings. He allowed just five hits and one walk in his second start since rejoining the Blue Jays' rotation.
"I came into the game and happened to establish that kind of consistent physical position, and from then it just allows me to kind of calm down in those situations and say, 'I have the confidence that I'm going to be able to execute my pitches here,'" Biagini said. "When I do that, it doesn't necessarily always go perfectly, but it gives me the best chance to at least limit the damage or escape those situations."
• Fister is 2-3 with a 3.72 ERA in nine career starts against the Blue Jays. He's faced them twice this season and allowed nine runs over 9 1/3 innings, but four of the runs from a start on July 20 were unearned.
• Toronto's Justin Smoak and Kendrys Morales have combined to hit 64 home runs this season, which is the second most by a switch-hitting duo in MLB history. New York's Mark Teixeira and Nick Swisher combined to hit 68 in 2009.
• Not only did Biagini strike out a career-high 10 in his last start, but 14 of the 16 balls put in play against him were hit on the ground. That ground-ball rate of 87.5 percent tied for the fourth-highest single-game mark this season by a starter who generated at least 15 batted balls.
LETS GO BLUE JAYS *CLAP, CLAP* *CLAP, CLAP, CLAP*
LETS GO BLUE JAYS *CLAP, CLAP* *CLAP, CLAP, CLAP*
LETS GO BLUE JAYS *CLAP, CLAP* *CLAP, CLAP, CLAP*
Hey Bosuxxxx...
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/a/img911/724/K02O1z.gif
Agreed.