Probable Starters for this Series:- Game 1: Millwood vs. Smoltz (QP: Millwood)
- Game 2: Hunter vs. Beckett (QP: Beckett)
- Game 3: Padilla vs. Buchholz (QP: Padilla)
Next Series (@ Royals):
- Game 1: Feldman vs. Greinke (QP: Greinke)
- Game 2: Holland vs. Hochevar (QP: Holland)
- Game 3: Millwood vs. Ponson (QP: Millwood)
Red Sox: Smoltz closed out the first half by earning his first victory since April 17, 2008 -- a span of 450 days. The 42-year-old righty tossed five innings of one-run ball against the Royals on July 11 at Fenway Park, striking out a season-high seven. In one career appearance at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, Smoltz recorded a three-out save.
- Omar Vizquel is 4-20 off Smoltz.
- Marlon Byrd is 2-9 off Smoltz.
That is it for Rangers having faced Smoltz.
Rangers: Millwood allowed four earned runs over six innings against the Mariners in his most recent start on July 11. He has run into a rough stretch, seeing his season ERA steadily increase to 3.46 from 2.64 over his past three starts. Manager Ron Washington decided to give Millwood some more time to rest -- he will be going on eight days after his last start. Millwood entered the All-Star break atop the American League in innings pitched and only one-third of an inning behind Adam Wainwright for the Major League lead. He has thrown 110 pitches in 13 of 19 starts this season.
BoSox to Watch:
- Mike Lowell is 18-57 (.316) with four doubles, a triple, two HRs, and thirteen RBIs. If Padilla was pitching, I would say he's a beenball candidate.
- Jason Varitek is 11-27 (.407) with four doubles and four RBIs.
- David "Papi" Ortiz is 8-22 (.364) with three HRs and nine RBIs.
As a team, the current roster is 78-240 (.325) off Millwood. They have eighteen doubles, three triples, eight HRs, and fourty-one RBIs.
Forecast: I like the Rangers in this one. We don't have a mess of experience against Smoltz, but he is not the Smoltz that pitched... well, dominated with the Braves. Despite that, he can still toss the ball like an average pitcher in the Majors. Not great, but not awful either. And, let's be honest... the Rangers pound average pitching. Smoltz may start the sixth inning, but I wouldn't count on him finishing with six innings tonight. And I am not sure if he will even grab down five. On the other side of things, Millwood doesn't do well against the BoSox. And that could keep this game fairly tight. Then again, Millwood hasn't been his usual self this season. And I am counting on more of that than anything else in this game. He should grab six innings, but may not grab a quality start. He will do enough to get the win, however. Score: 8-5, Rangers.
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