Astros at Red Sox
The Houston Astros and Boston Red Sox could be seeing a lot of each other should the final pieces of the regular-season puzzle fit in such a manner that the clubs meet in the American League Division Series. Both teams look to improve their respective postseason positioning on Thursday when they open a four-game set at Fenway Park in Boston.
Houston, which has already locked up home-field advantage for the first round, took Texas to task en route by outscoring its Lone Star State rivals 37-7 during a three-game sweep. New England native George Springer belted a grand slam to highlight Wednesday's 12-2 romp for the Astros, who have won 11 of their last 13 contests and reside one game behind Cleveland for the top record in AL. Boston, which holds a three-game lead over the second-place New York Yankees, has a magic number of two to clinch its second straight AL East title. Xander Bogaerts homered to highlight his three-hit, four-RBI performance in a 10-7 win over Toronto on Wednesday, improving to 9-for-23 with nine runs scored during his six-game hitting streak.
TV: 7:10 p.m. ET, MLB Network, AT&T SportsNet-Southwest (Houston), NESN (Boston)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Astros RH Brad Peacock (12-2, 2.98 ERA) vs. Red Sox LH Eduardo Rodriguez (6-6, 3.91)
Peacock has won his last two trips to the mound to improve to 9-2 with a 3.21 ERA as a starter. The 29-year-old followed up a one-run, six-inning performance at the Los Angeles Angels on Sept. 14 by surrendering one hit in six frames just six days later in a 4-3 win over the Chicago White Sox. Peacock owns an 0-2 mark with a 12.38 ERA in three career starts versus the Red Sox and has struggled retiring Dustin Pedroia (3-for-6).
Rodriguez rebounded from consecutive five-run outings to conclude August by posting a 2-1 mark with just six runs allowed in four starts (25 1/3 innings) in September. The 24-year-old Venezuelan scattered three hits over 7 2/3 sterling frames in a 5-0 win over Cincinnati on Saturday. "He maintained his stuff all the way through seven innings," manager John Farrell told reporters. "He used three pitches at both sides of the plate. Using his secondary pitches to make the fastball even better."
WALK-OFFS
1. Houston SS Carlos Correa collected his sixth career multi-homer performance on Wednesday to highlight a 7-for-15 series with seven RBIs.
2. Boston DH Hanley Ramirez has three hits in his last two games after mustering that same total in his previous seven.
3. Springer has two homers, six RBIs and seven runs scored during his four-game hitting streak.