Texas Rangers vs Boston Red Sox Series Preview
The 16-9 Boston Red Sox are in Texas for a four-game weekend series. The Red Sox are tied for second in the league with the Dodgers and Giants with a .640 win percentage.
Starting off the series, the Rangers will face a familiar pal, in Martin Perez. His last two outings have not been great, only going 3.2 innings in both starts. His first two starts of the season he went five innings each. Perez has a 5.71 ERA in four starts and 1.67 WHIP in 17.1 innings in 2021. This will be his third start against his former team, he’s 1-0 with a 4.91 ERA against Texas.
Kyle Gibson will start for the Rangers. He’s made seven starts against Boston in his career and has a 3.63 ERA and 1.075 WHIP in 44.2 innings against the Red Sox.
On Friday, Nathan Eovaldi will start for Boston. He’s had four strong starts this season but his last outing against the Seattle Mariners was a little shaky. He went five innings and gave up five runs (four earned) on seven hits and a walk. This will be his third start against Texas, he has a 3.00 ERA against them.
Kohei Arihara will take the mound for the Rangers, he’s also coming off a rough outing. he went just two innings against the Chicago White Sox and gave up five runs on six hits and four walks jumping his ERA to 4.03.
Saturday evening’s matchup will feature Jordan Lyles and Eduardo Rodriguez. Rodriguez has been super consistent in his starts this year, going at least five innings in every start, including seven innings in his last start against Seattle. In 23 innings, he has a 3.52 ERA and 0.87 WHIP. He has a 4.44 ERA in four career starts against the Rangers.
Much like the rest of the Rangers rotation, the last outing for Lyles was not great. After giving up seven runs on 10 hits and three walks in 2.2 innings, Lyles’ ERA now sits at 6.75. He’s only pitched against Boston twice in his career, the last time being in 2013. In those two starts he has a 7.45 ERA and 2.069 WHIP in 9.2 innings against the Red Sox.
In the series finale, Garrett Richards will start for Boston. His last outing against the New York Mets was his best of the season, he went seven innings gave up just one HR, seven hits total, and struck out 10 and walked none. He’s pitched against Texas 23 times in his career, including 19 starts, and has a 2.91 career ERA against the Rangers.
Coming off his first win of the season, Mike Foltynewicz will take the mound for Texas. He has two previous starts against Boston, in 2018, where he pitched a total of 13 innings. He has an addition two appearances against hem from 2014 where he pitched 3.1 innings. Overall he has a 1.65 ERA and 0.98 WHIP in 16.1 innings pitched against the Red Sox in his career.
