The Boston Red Sox and Detroit Tigers are both struggling at this point in the season. Boston has lost three games in a row. The Tigers have dropped five. The Red Sox have been the league most streaky team, having seven series end in sweeps, but only three of them have been the celebratory kind. The tigers on the other hand cannot figure out what has happened to their offense and both teams will look to get back on track on Friday.
Both the Red Sox and Tigers look to be a far cry from the championship teams they were last season. The Tigers have not dropped six in a row in the past three years. Boston followed up a seven game win streak with a three game losing stream. This comes on the heels of losing 10 games straight earlier in the season.
Following the injury to Clay Buchholz, the Red Sox will send Rubby De La Rosa to the mound in hopes that he can have another strong outing. In his first star, the pitcher got the win after throwing seven innings and not giving up an earned run. He allowed just four hits while striking out eight in his first big league start since 2011. The Red Sox were hoping he could start to gain some sort of starting arm again after being with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Tigers will put their faith in Drew Smyly after losing their last seven of eight games. He is 2-4 with a 4.10 ERA on the season. He last just four innings in his last start against the Seahawks, something the Tigers are hopeful he can improve on. The Tigers have lost his last four starts as he currently has a 7.20 ERA in that stretch. Against the Red Sox, Smyly is 1-0 with a 3.38 ERA, but Boston is 13-8 against left-handers.
Detroit has fallen flat since sweeping the Red Sox back in May. They have totaled just 10 runs during their five-game losing streak while getting swept by the Toronto Blue Jays. The team is hopeful they can turn things around.
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