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First Pitch: 1:10pm CDT
TV: FS-N
Radio: K-TWIN, TIBN, BOB FM
Know Thine Enemy: Over the Monster
Red Sox: Victorino (CF), Gomes (LF), Pedroia (2B), Ortiz (DH), Napoli (1B), Nava (RF), Middlebrooks (3B), Saltalamacchia (C), Ciriaco (SS)
Twins: Carroll (2B), Mauer (C), Morneau (1B), Plouffe (3B), Arcia (DH), Ramirez (LF), Parmelee (RF), Hicks (CF), Florimon (SS)
Hernandez was a bit better in Chicago his last time out, coming off of back-to-back shellackings at home. Over the course of the season he's been pretty good at avoiding the free pass, but whether that's due to his attempt at being aggressive or whether it's due to being around the plate too often is hard to say. What's not hard to say: when batters square up, they hit Hernandez hard. A full quarter of his balls in play have been line drives. If that continues, he'll be lucky to sustain a sub-6.00 ERA no matter how stingy he is with a walk.
The Rays cracked Lackey around pretty good his last time out. His previous outing was against the Twins in Boston, where he was solid for most of the game before losing his command and then giving the game to Minnesota by throwing a potential inning-ending double play relay into center field. He hasn't been throwing the slider or cut fastball nearly as often this season and has been balancing that out with his four-seamer more often. Lefties are still hitting him better than right-handed batters.