Rockies-Red Sox Preview
Jackie Bradley Jr.'s streak is well documented, but don't forget about Xander Bogaerts'. Actually, the entire Boston Red Sox lineup is on fire right now. Bradley hopes to keep chasing Joe DiMaggio's record hitting streak to help the red-hot Red Sox to a sweep of the visiting Colorado Rockies on Thursday night. Boston (29-17) kept piling up hits and runs in Wednesday's 10-3 win over Colorado (21-24), the fourth straight victory for the Red Sox after dropping the opener of their six-game homestand. Boston finished with 13 hits and Bradley extended his MLB-best hitting streak to 29 games with a fourth-inning single. His 2-for-4 performance moved him past the halfway mark of DiMaggio's record 56-game streak - also helping Boston to its sixth straight win over the Rockies at Fenway Park. Bradley is tied with Johnny Damon (2005) for the fourth-longest hitting streak in Red Sox history. Joe DiMaggio's brother, Dom, holds the franchise record with a 34-game streak in 1949. Boston's center fielder is batting .415 during the longest hitting streak of his career, during which the Red Sox are 21-8. ''I don't think about it, until I'm reminded about it,'' Bradley said. ''If it ends tomorrow, today - it doesn't matter. I just want to continue to keep swinging the bat well and keep winning.'' While Bradley's run has caught the eyes of everyone, Bogaerts has flown under the radar. The shortstop extended his hitting streak to 18 games Wednesday with a fourth-inning solo home run. He's batting .405 during his run and is at .349 overall, one point behind Bradley for the AL lead. David Ortiz has also keyed the four-game win streak, going 9 for 15 with nine RBIs. Leadoff man Mookie Betts has driven in 18 runs over his last 15 games. The Red Sox have scored eight or more runs 10 times in their last 14 home games and will try to keep the momentum rolling in support of Clay Buchholz. Buchholz (2-4, 5.92 ERA) provided a quality start Friday but still struggled with his command in a 4-2 loss to Cleveland. He walked four in six innings, also giving up five hits and four runs. The right-hander allowed his ninth home run of the season, already three more than he gave up in 18 starts last year. Colorado's Mark Reynolds only has two home runs this year, but he has gone deep twice off Buchholz while going 5 for 15. Ryan Raburn is 4 for 12 with a homer in the matchup. The Rockies will send Jon Gray (1-2, 6.75) to the mound as he tries to return to form following the worst outing of his career. Any momentum from Gray's dominant three-start stretch to open May was lost with last Thursday's disaster in a 13-7 loss at St. Louis. He was rocked for a career-high nine runs and eight hits in 3 1/3 innings, the second-shortest outing of his two-year MLB career. The right-hander spent much of the night pitching behind in counts for a performance that was a far cry from his previous three, in which he held a 1.80 ERA. "I was getting frustrated - frustrated at myself," Gray told MLB's official website. "Man, I just didn't feel it. I didn't have any feel for the zone. When the pitches needed to be in the zone, they weren't. When they needed to be out of the zone, they were." |