The Boston Red Sox return home after taking 2 of 3 games on the road against the Minnesota Twins and matching their high-water mark for the season as they moved 8 games over .500 with a 59-51 record. They are in third place in the American League East, but they are just 1 1/2 games behind the second-place New York Yankees. Manager Alex Cora's team only made limited moves at the trade deadline, and that could put the team at a disadvantage in the final two months of the season.
There are holes in the roster, and one of those potential weaknesses may have revealed itself in Friday night's lineup against the American League West leading Houston Astros. Abraham Toro is playing first base and is in the lineup as the team's cleanup hitter. The Red Sox recent rise has included some strong hitting efforts led by young star Roman Anthony, slugging Alex Bregman and red-hot Jarren Duran. However, Cora has installed Toro as the clean-up hitter even though he is slashing .264/.329/.399 with 5 home runs and 22 runs batted in.
The manager gave a rather ambiguous answer when explaining his lineup choice. “There's a reason he's hitting there. It's not to hit a grand slam,” Cora said. “Hopefully he does. But I think with the guy that we're facing, it makes sense for him to hit there.”
The Astros are sending Hunter Brown to the mound at Fenway Park to face the potent Red Sox lineup. Boston has decided to hold back ace lefthander Garrett Crochet and fill-in Cooper Criswell will get the start.
Red Sox pick up a pair of pitchers at trade deadline.
The Red Sox were expected to be one of the more active teams at the trade deadline, but their only acquisitions were pitchers Steven Matz from the St. Louis Cardinals and Dustin May from the Los Angeles Dodgers. May could slot in as the team's No. 5 starter while Matz has worked primarily out of the bullpen this season.
Duran appeared to be one of the most sought after players at the deadline, and it appeared the Red Sox had a glut of outfielders that could have led to the speedster's trade. However, when 2nd baseman Marcelo Mayer was sidelined with a wrist injury, the Red Sox took Ceddanne Rafaela out of centerfield and moved him into Mayer's position.
Anthony has been playing left field, Duran has moved to centerfield and Wilyer Abreu is in right field. As a result of the Mayer injury, the Red Sox no longer had the number of outfielders they did earlier in the year that could have allowed a trade that would have brought a high-profile performer.
