Astros at Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox spent $217 million to make David Price the ace of the staff over the winter and so far are not seeing much of a return on their investment. Price will try to bounce back from another tough outing when the Red Sox host the Houston Astros in the opener of a four-game series on Thursday.
Price has gotten enough run support to come away with four wins, but his velocity has been down and he made some mechanical adjustments between starts that should help moving forward. "I'm mentally strong," Price told reporters. "I'm not going to harp on these seven starts or my last start. I'm going to go out there on Thursday and be ready to get after the Astros." Boston's offense certainly is capable of making up for a poor start as it pounded out 40 runs in a three-game sweep of Oakland that helped pull the Astros out of sole possession of last place in the American League West. Houston has won six of its last nine after a slow start and earned a series win over Cleveland when Marwin Gonzalez clubbed a two-run, walk-off homer in the 16th inning on Wednesday for a 5-3 victory.
TV: 7:10 p.m. ET, MLB Network, ROOT (Houston), NESN (Boston)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Astros LH Dallas Keuchel (2-4, 4.70 ERA) vs. Red Sox LH David Price (4-1, 6.75)
Keuchel has been nearly as disappointing as Price while trying to follow up his 2015 Cy Young Award-winning campaign. The 28-year-old was reached for 16 runs and 26 hits over 16 1/3 innings in three straight losses before yielding two runs in seven frames against Seattle in a no-decision on Saturday. Keuchel mowed through the AL last season but did not face Boston, against which he has allowed seven runs and nine hits in 7 2/3 career innings.
Price has been rocked for six runs in each of his last two starts and has surrendered at least five earned runs in four of his seven turns. Three of those poor outings came at home, where the Vanderbilt product has posted an 8.34 ERA in front of his new fans. Price has pitched well against Houston over his career, posting a 3-2 record with a 2.89 ERA and 49 strikeouts in 43 2/3 innings.
WALK-OFFS
1. Astros RF George Springer has drawn eight walks in his last three games.
2. Boston CF Jackie Bradley Jr. has hit safely in 17 straight games and is 8-for-14 with three homers and 13 RBIs in the last three contests.
3. Houston CF Carlos Gomez is 2-for-20 with 12 strikeouts in his last six games.