Previewing Red Sox-Guardians three-game series in Cleveland

Previewing Red Sox-Guardians three-game series in Cleveland

The Boston Red Sox are coming off a series sweep against the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park, improving to 13-10 on the season and 10-3 on the road.

After a day off on Monday, they’ll remain on the road for three games against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field starting on Tuesday.

Alex Cora’s team only has two starters announced for the series, as they have multiple pitchers dealing with injuries at this point in the season.

Let’s take a look at the three matchups

Game 1

On Tuesday, the Red Sox are expected to get Tyler O’Neill and Rafael Devers back from their injuries, significantly improving the team’s offense.

Tanner Houck is expected to take the mound for Boston. He’s coming off of a complete game shutout of Cleveland in his last start, bringing his ERA to 1.35 and his WHIP to 0.90 through 26 2/3 innings. He’s allowed hits to seven different Guardians in his career – Gabriel Arias (1-for-3), Estevan Florial (1-for-8), Andres Gimenez (1-for-7), Steven Kwan (2-for-6 with an RBI), Ramon Laureano (1-for-1), Josh Naylor (2-for-6 with a solo home run) and Jose Ramirez (2-for-10 with a solo home run).

Ben Lively is the projected starter for Cleveland or this matchup, and his lone start this year came against Boston in a 2-0 loss here he went five innings and gave up both earned runs on three hits. In his career, he’s given up hits to just four Red Sox – Jarren Duran (2-for-5), Pablo Reyes (1-for-2), Connor Wong (1-for-2 with a solo home run) and Mastaka Yoshida (1-for-2).

Game 2

Boston has yet to announce a starter for the middle game of this series, but it could be Cooper Criswell or Brennan Bernardino opening again. Both last pitched on Thursday against Cleveland. They allowed three hits and one earned run over 4 1/3 innings of work combined.

Cleveland is expected to start Carlos Carrasco on Wednesday after making his last start against Boston last week, going 5 2/3 innings and giving up two runs on four hits and three walks. Eight Red Sox have recorded hits off of him – Duran (1-for-4), Wong (2-for-5), Devers (1-for-4), O’Neill (1-for-5), Wilyer Abreu (1-for-3 with an RBI), Reese McGuire (1-for-2), Rob Refsnyder (1-for-5) and Enmanuel Valdez (1-for-3)

Game 3

Brayan Bello will be on the bump for Boston in the finale. He had his best outing of the year on Friday against the Pirates, throwing six innings of one-hit ball with seven strikeouts, bringing his 2024 ERA down to 3.04 and WHIP to 1.05. Three Guardians have recorded a hit off of him – Kwan (1-for-2), Naylor (1-for-2) and Ramirez (2-for-2).

McKenzie will pitch opposite Bello, after posting a 5.00 ERA and a 1.61 WHIP through his first four starts of the season. Only two Red Sox have ever had hits off of him – Refsnyder (1-for-4 with a solo home run) and Bobby Dalbec (1-for-3 with an RBI).