"The Red Sox have returned to the Dead Ball era. "Sell the team" chants have taken over NESN. Alex Cora was fired at 10-17. Chad Tracy is at 8-8. Craig Breslow is probably fielding calls about Aroldis Chapman, Willson Contreras, Sonny Gray, Garrett Whitlock...guys who can help winning clubs right now. And Boston travels to face the only team with 30 wins. Baseball being what it is, they could sweep, of course. But this is going to be a tough series."
"Connelly Early takes the ball Friday night against Spencer Strider. Early is coming off an excellent outing against Tampa Bay, 7.0 scoreless innings in their lone win in three games against the AL East leader. Strider began the year on the IL and, after being knocked around in Colorado for 3.1 inning,s shut down the Dodgers for 6.0. Maybe he'll be rusty again. Kinda of an even-odd thing. One hit, 2 walks, 8 strikeouts even during an Ohtani slump is nothing to sneeze at."
"Payton Tolle, aka Mass Pike, has made three starts on at least five days rest and one start on four days rest. Those three have included two gems and one kinda OK start. In the one on four days he wasn't as sharp and issued four walks. Hopefully the Braves are a good matchup for him. They are actually the 23rd ranked offense in walks but 24th in strikeouts. So maybe this will be a defense-heavy workload."
"Durbin to the rescue? Bryce Elder is a righty who strikes people out but not at the elite level. He has 53 Ks in 54.2 innings but struck out 8 and 9 batters, respectively, in his last two starts. He does have 20 walks over that time which is...fine. He only averages 87 pitches per outing so if they work a few deep counts (I know, I know) maybe they can hold him under the 6.0 inning mark. He has reverse splits and this year righties are hitting .268/.297/.310 with lefties at a"
Boston has fallen into a low-scoring, “Dead Ball” style moment, with sell-the-team chants and recent roster uncertainty. Alex Cora was fired, while Boston’s pitching staff and potential trade targets are being discussed, including Aroldis Chapman, Willson Contreras, Sonny Gray, and Garrett Whitlock. Boston travels to face the only team with 30 wins, and a sweep is possible but unlikely to be easy. Chris Sale will not pitch, so at least one ace misses the weekend. Friday’s starter is Connelly Early against Spencer Strider, who may be rusty after injury and a shutdown stretch. Payton Tolle has mixed results on short rest, and the Braves’ approach may lead to a defense-focused game. Bryce Elder’s strikeout ability is solid but not elite, with walk totals that could shape innings and pitch counts.
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