Boston (36-24) at Philadelphia (35-23)
The Red Sox send southpaw Jon Lester (5-5, 5.09 ERA) to the mound as they open a three-game interleague series at Citizens Bank Park against the Phillies and Joe Blanton (4-3, 5.46).
Boston capped a six-game homestand with Thursday’s 4-3 victory over the Yankees, completing a three-game sweep over its division rivals. The Red Sox are 8-2 in their last 10 games overall and they’ve won four straight on the highway. Also, despite losing two of three at home to the Mets last month, Boston is still 53-18 in its last 71 interleague contests, including 24-9 in its last 33 on the road and 35-17 in its last 52 versus N.L. East foes.
Philadelphia ended a 10-game, three-city road trip in New York on Thursday, grabbing a 6-3, 10-inning win over the Mets to finish the journey with a 7-3 mark. The Phillies are on impressive runs of 10-3 overall, 4-1 at home, 5-1 in interleague play (all against the A.L. East), 4-1 on Friday, 40-17 against winning teams, 20-6 versus left-handed starters and 12-2 at home against southpaws.
The Red Sox took two of three last year at Citizens Bank and they’re 13-3 in the last 16 battles with the Phillies, including 8-2 in the last 10 in Philadelphia.
Lester is coming off a complete-game, 8-1 home victory over Texas, taking a perfect game into the seventh inning and finishing allowing one run on two hits with two walks and 11 strikeouts. Over his last two starts, including an 8-2 victory at Toronto, Lester has surrendered a combined two runs, five hits and five walks with 23 strikeouts. However, he’s still just 2-3 with a 6.14 ERA in six road efforts this season.
Boston is 42-20 in Lester’s last 62 starts overall, 7-1 in his last eight interleague outings and 5-0 in his last five against the N.L. East. However, the Sox have lost four straight Friday contests behind Lester. His only career start against the Phillies came a year ago in Philadelphia, and he pitched seven scoreless innings en route to a 3-0 victory.
Blanton has been sharp in his last three outings, going 2-0 with a 1.80 ERA. He got a no-decision Saturday in Los Angeles, limiting the Dodgers to a run on five hits in six innings, but the Phillies lost 3-2 in 12 innings. With Blanton pitching, Philadelphia is on hot streaks of 4-1 overall, 7-0 in series openers and 9-2 at home, where the portly right-hander is 1-2 with a hefty 6.75 ERA in five starts this season.
Blanton made eight starts against the Red Sox when he was with Oakland, going 3-2 with a 3.75 ERA.
For the Red Sox, the “under” is on streaks of 21-6-2 overall, 7-2 on the road, 13-3-2 against right-handed starters, 7-2-1 in interleague action, 5-0-2 on Friday, 4-0 in series openers and 4-1 when Lester faces National League competition. Similarly, the Phillies carry “under” trends of 13-5-1 overall, 5-1 at home, 7-2 against southpaw starters, 13-3-1 in interleague play, 4-0 against the A.L. East.
Conversely, the over is 6-2 in the last eight meetings between these clubs and 4-1 in the last five clashes in Philly.
ATS ADVANTAGE: UNDER
N.Y. Mets (31-27) at N.Y. Yankees (34-26)
The Yankees and Mets renew their Subway Series rivalry with the first-ever meeting at new Yankee Stadium. Joba Chamberlain (3-1, 3.79) is scheduled to toe the slab for the home team against Mets veteran Livan Hernandez (5-1, 3.88).
The Mets ended a three-game set against division rival Philadelphia with last night’s 6-3 loss in 10 innings. New York has followed up a 7-2 run by losing six of its last nine. The Mets have also dropped five of their last seven road games, but the two victories came last month in an interleague series in Boston. Jerry Manuel’s club is 4-1 in its last five games in American League parks, 5-1 in its last six series openers and 37-18 in its last 55 on Friday.
The Yankees return home after getting swept in Boston this week, ending with Thursday’s 4-3 loss. The Bronx Bombers still remain on positive runs of 19-9 overall, 12-4 at home, 8-2 on Friday, 55-22 when hosting N.L. competition. However, they did lose two of three to the Phillies at the new stadium three weeks ago.
The Mets went 4-2 against their rivals last season, including sweeping a three-game set at old Yankee Stadium by the combined score of 33-12.
Hernandez dominated the Nationals in a 7-0 victory Sunday, scattering four hits and four walks in seven scoreless innings. The 34-year-old right-hander has won five straight decisions and has allowed three earned runs or fewer in seven of his last eight starts, going 2-0 with a 1.57 ERA in his last four trips to the mound.
Hernandez is 3-1 with a 4.07 ERA in seven road starts, but 0-3 with a 6.37 ERA in five career starts versus the Yankees.
Chamberlain has given up three earned runs or fewer in six consecutive starts, going at least six innings in four of those contests. In his most recent outing Sunday against the Rays, Chamberlain allowed three runs on five hits in six innings, failing to get a decision in his team’s 4-3 victory.
The Yanks are 5-1 in Chamberlain’s last six starts and 4-1 in his five outings at home, where the hard-throwing right-hander is 0-1 with a 5.48 ERA this year. Chamberlain’s experience against the Mets is limited to one inning of relief, and he gave up a run on two hits.
The over is 19-7-2 in the Mets’ last 28 interleague road games, but otherwise, they’re on “under” tears of 4-1 on the road, 5-1 in interleague action (all against the A.L. East), 5-2 in series openers and 43-19-7 when playing on Friday. For the Yanks, the “under” is on runs of 12-5-2 overall, 7-1 in interleague home games, 6-0 against the N.L. East, 4-0 on Friday and 4-1-1 with Chamberlain on the hill.
On the flip side, the final five Subway Series clashes at former Yankee Stadium last year went over the total, and the over is 3-1-1 in Chamberlain’s five home starts this season.
ATS ADVANTAGE: NONE
Gametimepics.com
Weekend Interleague Cheat Sheet
By Marc Lawrence
Round 2 in Interleague play resumes this weekend as the American League looks to improve on its domination this weekend. American League certainly holds a 724-591 record against its National League cousins over the last five-plus years (including 22-20 overall this season).
In this week’s edition of the Cheat Sheet, a guide designed to help you isolate a few key best bets, we focus on two rivalry series. In addition, we’ve updated the records of the best and worst performers in the history of Interleague play. Keep in mind that all pitcher records are team stats unless noted otherwise.
Boston Red Sox at Philadelphia Phillies
Most recent series result: Red Sox 13-3 last sixteen games vs. Phillies
Most recent series result at the site: Red Sox 8-2 last 10 games away vs. Phillies
Key day/month stat: Phillies 20-4 on Sundays; Red Sox 1-4 away in Sundays
Best arm in the series: Josh Beckett 12-4 3.79 lifetime vs. Phillies (4-0 last four)
Worst arm in the series: Joe Blanton 1-3 3.24 ERA home lifetime vs. Red Sox
New York Mets at New York Yankees
Most recent series result: Mets 4-2 last six games vs. Yankees
Most recent series result at the site: Mets 3-0 last three away vs. Yankees
Key day/month stat: Yankees 16-3 home on Sundays; Mets 1-4 away on Sundays
Best arm in the series: Johan Santana 5-1 1.67 ERA away lifetime vs. Yankees; Yankees’ Andy Pettite 6-1 3.33 ERA home lifetime vs. Mets
Worst arm in the series: John Maine 0-2 16.50 ERA lifetime vs. Yankees; Mets’ Livan Hernandez 0-2 6.55 ERA away lifetime vs. Yankees
Best all-time interleague teams
1. New York Yankees 124-89 .582
2. Minnesota Twins 123-90 .578
3. Oakland Athletics 124-91 .577
4. Chicago White Sox 118-96 .551
5. Boston Red Sox 117-97 .547
Worst all-time interleague teams
1. Pittsburgh Pirates 64-105 .379
2. Baltimore Orioles 92-122 .430
3. San Diego Padres 83-111 .428
4. Tampa Bay Rays 88-111 .442
5. Cincinnati Reds 79-96 .457
Baseball Today
SCOREBOARD
Friday, June 12
Boston at Philadelphia (7:05 p.m. EDT). Red Sox left-hander Jon Lester (5-5, 5.09 ERA) goes against Phillies righty Joe Blanton (4-3, 5.46 ERA) in the opener of a weekend series. Lester flirted with a perfect game in his last start before settling for a two-hitter.
STARS
Thursday
-Raul Ibanez, Phillies, hit a three-run homer with two outs in the 10th inning and Philadelphia beat the New York Mets 6-3
-Kevin Millwood, Rangers, threw 7 2-3 scoreless innings to help Texas to a 1-0 win over Toronto.
-Andy LaRoche, Pirates, delivered a two-out, two-run single in the ninth inning to help Pittsburgh to a 3-1 win over Atlanta.
-Shin-Soo Choo, Indians, hit an RBI single that glanced off a gull and gave Cleveland a 4-3 win over Kansas City.
-Geoff Blum, Astros, singled down the right-field line in the 13th inning to lift Houston to a 2-1 win over the Chicago Cubs.
- Carlos Pena, Rays, hit a three-run homer and drove in four runs to help Tampa Bay beat the Los Angeles Angels 11-1.
-Rajai Davis, Athletics, singled to right in the bottom of the ninth and Oakland rallied from a late three-run deficit for a 4-3 victory over Minnesota.
ONE-RUN GAMES
Ten major league baseball games were decided by one run Thursday night, the most since a record 11 early in the 2001 season. Thursday night was the 10th time that many teams all won by the smallest possible margin. The record of 11 has happened twice - April 14, 2001 and July 4, 1918. Aug. 9, 2002 also had 10 teams winning by the minimum.
Thursday's one-run games were: St. Louis 6, Florida 5; Houston 2, the Chicago Cubs 1, in 13 innings; Colorado 5, Milwaukee 4; Arizona 2, San Francisco 1; Washington 3, Cincinnati 2; the Chicago White Sox 4, Detroit 3; Oakland 4, Minnesota 3; Cleveland 4, Kansas City 3, in 10 innings; Boston 4, N.Y. Yankees 3 and, in the night's only minimum score contest, Texas beat Toronto 1-0.
COSTLY MISTAKES
An error by Cody Ross in center field helped the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Florida Marlins 6-5 Thursday. Rick Ankiel led off the eighth with a single, Albert Pujols walked on a full count and Ryan Ludwick singled. The ball got under Ross' glove and went to the wall, letting Ankiel and Pujols score the tying runs. ... Cristian Guzman scored the go-ahead run on a throwing error by Cincinnati second baseman Brandon Phillips in the eighth inning, a mistake that could have been forced by Alberto Gonzalez's hard slide. With the bases loaded and one out, Ryan Zimmerman bounced a slow grounder to shortstop Alex Gonzalez, who flipped to Phillips. As Anderson Hernandez crossed the plate with the tying run, Phillips threw wildly to first, allowing Guzman to score.
WILDLIFE FINISH
In Cleveland's 4-3 win over Kansas City, Shin-Soo Choo's base hit bounced off a gull before center fielder Coco Crisp could get to it and rolled to the wall while Mark DeRosa scored from second without a throw to give the Cleveland Indians a 4-3 win over the Royals on Thursday night. Although DeRosa seemed likely to score even if Crisp had fielded the ball, it bounced up, hit the seabird and changed direction enough that Crisp had no play. The gull? It appeared fine, flopping around for a few seconds before finally flying off.
THAT'S EIGHT
Boston rallied to beat the New York Yankees 4-3 Thursday night, making the Red Sox 8-0 against their rivals for the first time since they opened the brand-new Fenway Park by winning the first 14 against the Highlanders in 1912. The teams don't meet again until Aug. 6.
ROCKIES ROAD
Colorado won its eighth straight game Thursday, beating Milwaukee 5-4. All the wins have come on the road. The Rockies completed a four-game sweep of St. Louis earlier this week.
UNSTOPPABLE BLUM
Geoff Blum delivered game-winning hits for the Astros on consecutive days, coming through on Thursday with a 13th-inning single to give Houston a 2-1 win over the Chicago Cubs. On Wednesday, Blum singled with the bases loaded in the ninth to lift Houston to another 2-1 victory over the Cubs.
SPEAKING
"My team always comes back. That's what's good about them.'' - Manager Charlie Manuel after the Phillies came back to beat the New York Mets in extra innings for the second night in a row, 6-3 Thursday night.
Streaking and Slumping Pitchers
By Covers.com
Streaking
Randy Wells (Chicago Cubs)
Chicago Cubs rookie right-hander Randy Wells hasn't received much backing from his team's hitters or bullpen this season.
Wells has five straight quality starts since throwing five scoreless innings in his season debut May 8 after being recalled from Triple-A Iowa.
He received six runs of support in his first four starts, but it's the Cubs bullpen that's been more to blame recently for keeping him from his first major league victory.
Wells allowed two runs over 6 2-3 innings Sunday in Cincinnati, but Carlos Marmol failed to record an out and gave up the tying run in the eighth inning of a 6-3 win in 14 innings. Wells took a no-hitter into the seventh inning and yielded one earned run June 2 in Atlanta, but Marmol allowed a run in the eighth and Kevin Gregg gave up two in the ninth in a 6-5 loss in 12 innings.
"It stinks not getting the win," Wells told the team's official Web site. "But stuff happens. That's baseball."
Tim Lincecum (San Francisco Giants)
The Giants will turn to reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum on Friday night when they face the Athletics and rookie Vin Mazzaro, who has yet to allow a run through two outings.
Oakland (27-32) went 4-2 against San Francisco (31-28) last year, and has not lost the season series since going 2-4 eight years ago. The Athletics have won seven straight road meetings.
One of the losses for Oakland last season came to Lincecum (5-1, 2.96 ERA), who gave up five hits and struck out 11 on June 28, 2008, in a 1-0 victory that ended the Giants' seven-game overall losing streak to the Athletics.
That is Lincecum's only victory in five interleague starts. He is 1-0 with a 2.38 ERA in two career outings versus Oakland, and 1-1 with a 6.33 ERA in interleague play.
Lincecum is having another strong year, going unbeaten since his second start of the season. The Giants have dropped three of his last five outings, though, and the right-hander won Sunday by giving up two runs over 7 1-3 innings in a 3-2 victory at Florida.
"The first seven went pretty well," Lincecum said. "I had a tough time finding the strike zone but when I needed to I got outs."
Roy Halladay (Toronto Blue Jays)
The last time Roy Halladay won seven consecutive decisions, his streak was halted by the Marlins.
This time, he'll attempt to extend his current run at Florida's expense on Friday night when the Toronto Blue Jays welcome the Marlins to Rogers Centre in the start of a three-game set.
Halladay (10-1, 2.52 ERA) leads the major leagues in wins and is also third in the AL with 88 strikeouts. Over his last nine outings, the right-hander has gone 7-0 with a 2.03 ERA while reaching at least the seventh inning in each contest.
The 2003 AL Cy Young Award winner has received 54 of his 81 runs of support this season over his last nine appearances.
"It's the best run support I've had, that's for sure, and that makes a huge difference," Halladay said. "There were games early on where I didn't necessarily pitch great and we scored enough runs. It makes a huge difference and lets you get into the swing of things."
This is the first time he's put together a winning streak this long since he went 7-0 with a 2.48 ERA over 11 starts from April 22-June 13, 2006. Five days later, that came to an end against the Marlins (29-33) as he allowed four runs and eight hits with seven strikeouts in six innings of a 4-1 defeat.
Halladay will attempt to avoid a similar fate after tossing just 97 pitches in a seven-hitter en route to a 4-0 win over Kansas City on Sunday. It was the five-time All-Star's second straight complete game, raising his career total to 43, and 12th shutout.
Halladay has won his last five home starts, posting a 1.93 ERA with 39 strikeouts in 42 innings.
Slumping
Joel Pineiro (St. Louis Cardinals)
Joel Pineiro (5-6, 3.97 ERA) would like to see the offense continue to roll as he tries to avoid a fourth consecutive losing start for the first time since dropping a career-high five in a row with Seattle from Aug. 6-27, 2003.
The right-hander has received only four total runs of support during his current losing streak, in which he's recorded a 5.63 ERA. That slide is also part of a seven-game stretch that has seen him go 1-6 despite a 4.09 ERA while the offense produced 10 total runs.
Pineiro lost again Sunday, getting reached for three runs and 10 hits in five innings of a 7-2 loss to Colorado.
"You know that, but you can't be thinking about that," Pineiro told the team's official Web site of the limited run support. "Because then you put more pressure on yourself and you kind of not worry about what you have to do on the mound.
"You can't be thinking about that too much. You've still got to go out there and pitch your game."
Pineiro is 3-2 with a 5.66 ERA in 10 games - eight starts - against Cleveland all when he was in the AL from 2000-07.
Ricky Nolasco (Florida Marlins)
Florida now will give the ball to Ricky Nolasco (2-6, 8.17), who has lost his last three starts with a 12.79 ERA.
A 15-game winner last year, the right-hander was sent to Triple-A New Orleans on May 23. Now set to make his first start against Toronto, Nolasco lost despite an impressive return Sunday. He gave up three runs - two earned - and 10 hits in seven innings of a 3-2 defeat to San Francisco.
"I did what I could do to keep us in the game," said Nolasco, who received no runs of support. "Obviously, the ultimate goal is to win, so I'm not satisfied with what I did."
Nolasco is 2-2 with a 5.52 ERA in five interleague starts.