Red Sox Return From Record Road Trip To Host Brewers
BOSTON (CBS) – The Boston Red Sox return home from their best road trip in 34 years Friday night to welcome the Milwaukee Brewers to Fenway for a three-game series.
The Brewers, who moved to the National League in 1998, have not won at Fenway since September of 97. The Red Sox are 5-1 against Milwaukee since they changed leagues, and took all three games in their last visit to Fenway in 2008.
Red Sox first baseman Adrian Gonzalez has hit the Brewers hard over his career with eight homers and 25 RBI in 34 games against Milwaukee. His .357 career average is the highest against any National League team. Gonzalez is on a tear over the last two weeks, he is batting .414 with five homers and 16 RBI in the last 15 games.
For the Brewers, who are a game up on the Cardinals in the NL Central, Prince Fielder and Ryan Braun do the damage in the middle of the order. Fielder leads the NL with 59 RBI and is second with 19 home runs. Braun had a blast in his three games at Fenway in 2008, hitting three homers and driving in five.
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Boston will face a familiar foe Friday night in Shaun Marcum, who spent the last five seasons with the Toronto Blue Jays. Marcum is off to a great start in his first year with the Brewers, going 7-2 with a 2.68 ERA. In 11 starts against the Sox, he is 5-5 with a 4.38 ERA in his time with Toronto.
The Red Sox have moved the start time of Saturday's game from 1:10 to 7:10 to allow fans to watch or attend the Bruins Stanley Cup parade, which begins at 11 am Saturday morning. The Sox have plans to honor the Bruins before Sunday's game.
Pitching Matchups For Weekend Set Against Brewers
Friday 7:10 pm
• Shaun Marcum (7-2, 2.68 ERA) vs. John Lackey (4-5, 7.41 ERA)
Saturday 7:10 pm
• Randy Wolf (4-4, 3.20 ERA) vs. Jon Lester (9-2, 3.73 ERA)
Sunday 1:35 pm
• Yovani Gallardo (8-3, 3.76 ERA) vs. Tim Wakefield (3-2, 4.39 ERA)
