Red Sox Look To Lester To Avoid Rangers Sweep

The Boston Red Sox will look to Jon Lester  to avoid a three game sweep against the Texas Rangers.  The Red Sox entered the series having one their first four road series of the season. Yu Darvish will take the mound for Texas. Lester is 3-3 with a 4.57 ERA in 10 starts against the Rangers (19-11), but 0-2 with a 10.29 ERA in his last three  and gave up six runs in six innings in his last start 9-7  loss to Toronto on Tuesday.

“It was one of those nights for me from pitch one,” Lester said. “I just wasn’t able to repeat the ball down in the zone, and that’s big. Curveballs just kind of rolled in there and I didn’t have a very effective changeup.” For the season Lester is 4-0 with a 3.11 ERA.

Darvish is off to a 5-1  start with a 2.33 ERA. Darvishstruck out nine but allowed six runs, 11 hits and walked four in 6 2/3 innings of a 9-2 loss  In his only career appearance against the Red Sox last August.

Darvish recorded 18 scoreless innings before the White Sox scored two runs in the the first inning  on Tuesday.  Darvish and the Rangers won the game, but  he wasn’t satisfied. “I really couldn’t get into my rhythm from the beginning, and it wasn’t really a smooth outing,” he said.

Third baseman Will Middlebrooks, catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia and right fielder Shane Victorino are all out of the lineup for Boston.

Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
Daniel Nava, RF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
David Ortiz, DH
Mike Napoli, 1B
Mike Carp, LF
David Ross, C
Stephen Drew, SS
Pedro Ciriaco, 3B