The Oakland Athletics wrap up their brief six game home stand with an even more brief two game set with the Boston Red Sox. The A's were 5-4 against the Red Sox, winning four of six at home and one of three on the road. This season the A's and Red Sox square off eight times, with the final six taking place at Fenway Park.
The Red Sox are currently sitting in the cellar of the AL West at 5-10. The Red Sox opened the season 0-6 and have slowly worked their way up from that ugliness. Although things have gotten better, Carl Crawford, one of their big offseason acquisitions, has struggled immensely with a line of .133/.175/.167. On the other hand, Jed Lowrie is tearing the cover off the ball to the tune of .516/.545/.774 in 31 at bats of spot starting at short stop. It would seem that he has likely surpassed former Athletics short stop Marco Scutaro on the depth chart.
The A's have been bouncing around to date and currently sit at 8-8 after splitting a four game series with the Tigers. The biggest advantage for the A's in this short series will be the starting pitching. Brett Anderson, starting Tuesday, has been solid through three starts in spite of getting little run support. Gio Gonzalez, starting Wednesday, is currently leading the majors in ERA at 0.47. He's pitched extremely well but has also benefitted from some weak lineups. He did face a tough Tigers lineup on Thursday but he also walked six batters, so we'll see how he fares against a tough Red Sox lineup.
Tuesday's game is at 7:05pm, while Wednesday's game is a lunchtime affair at 12:35pm. Both games will be broadcast by CSN California.