BOSTON ?145:
I?m going to try a wager on Boston in this game for a number of reasons, but mostly it?s a play against Toronto?s starter Ted Lilly.
Lilly may not be up to game form quite yet. He?s been battling a sore wrist for most of the spring and because of that he?s only been able to get a total of 9.2 innings of work in this spring. With that in mind, he now has to pitch in a ballpark that has been unkind to lefties over the years and vs a Boston team that has a history of hitting him very hard in the past.
Lilly in 6 career appearances including 5 starts vs Boston is 0-2 with a 5.54 ERA and at Fenway in 2 career starts is 0-1 with a 9.72 ERA while allowing 16 hits in just 8.1 innings at Fenway.
Taking a look at some of the Red Sox players that Lilly fears: Burks, Damon, Kapler, Millar, Ramirez, an Veritek all have a pretty good past history vs Lilly and this group of 6 have collectively gone 22 for 54 which equates to a .407 combined batting average in their careers vs Lilly.
Boston?s starter Bronson Arroyo is not someone I?m sold on, but he?s been decent this spring and in 14.1 career innings at Fenway has allowed just 9 hits.
Of course we all know that Toronto got swept by Detroit and we also know that the Blue Jay?s aren?t as bad as they looked vs the Tigers. However, the Jays are hitting just .196 as a team so far and if they start pressing a bit which I feel has already been the case vs the 2nd and 3rd games of the Tiger Series, it might just help Arroyo?s cause who I also feel has another advantage over the Jays due to the fact he?s never faced them in his career.
Good luck everyone!
-ndnfan
I?m going to try a wager on Boston in this game for a number of reasons, but mostly it?s a play against Toronto?s starter Ted Lilly.
Lilly may not be up to game form quite yet. He?s been battling a sore wrist for most of the spring and because of that he?s only been able to get a total of 9.2 innings of work in this spring. With that in mind, he now has to pitch in a ballpark that has been unkind to lefties over the years and vs a Boston team that has a history of hitting him very hard in the past.
Lilly in 6 career appearances including 5 starts vs Boston is 0-2 with a 5.54 ERA and at Fenway in 2 career starts is 0-1 with a 9.72 ERA while allowing 16 hits in just 8.1 innings at Fenway.
Taking a look at some of the Red Sox players that Lilly fears: Burks, Damon, Kapler, Millar, Ramirez, an Veritek all have a pretty good past history vs Lilly and this group of 6 have collectively gone 22 for 54 which equates to a .407 combined batting average in their careers vs Lilly.
Boston?s starter Bronson Arroyo is not someone I?m sold on, but he?s been decent this spring and in 14.1 career innings at Fenway has allowed just 9 hits.
Of course we all know that Toronto got swept by Detroit and we also know that the Blue Jay?s aren?t as bad as they looked vs the Tigers. However, the Jays are hitting just .196 as a team so far and if they start pressing a bit which I feel has already been the case vs the 2nd and 3rd games of the Tiger Series, it might just help Arroyo?s cause who I also feel has another advantage over the Jays due to the fact he?s never faced them in his career.
Good luck everyone!
-ndnfan
