Red Sox Weekly Preview 5/12-5/19

Ryan MacLeod
Contributing Writer
What an awful week for the Red Sox, it was easily the worst week they have had all season. In the 7 games they played they went 2-5 and went from first in the AL East to third and 2 games behind the New York Yankees. This week will not get any easier for them as they travel to Tampa and then to Minnesota, a team that just took 3 out of 4 against them in Fenway.

Monday: Travel Day
Thankfully the Red Sox have a travel day today, a day that is needed for them to think about the past home stand and realize what is going wrong for them.
Tuesday: John Lackey vs Matt Moore
Lackey has not had the best start to the season, even having a stint on the DL. His last start may have been his best of the season, striking out 8 in 7 innings of work. Moore has been outstanding all year for Tampa. He is 6-0 on the year and the Rays have won every game he has started this year. The game is at 7:10 on NESN.
Wednesday: Jon Lester vs David Price
Lester has been the Ace that the Red Sox wanted while Price has not been the same for Tampa. Lester pitched a complete game 1 hitter in his last start. Price pitched well in his last start, 8 innings of 2 run baseball but picked up the no decision. The start is at 7:10 and will be Wednesday Night Baseball on ESPN and will also be on NESN.
Thursday: TBA vs Alex Cobb
The Red Sox have not announced who will pitch the final game in the series against Tampa but it can be assumed that it will be Clay Buchholz, who has been amazing this season. He picked up a no decision in his last start but still had 8 strong innings of work. Cobb was not able to go 5 innings in his last start, going only 4.2 but struck out 13 batters. The game will be on NESN at 7:10.
Friday: TBA vs Vance Worley
The ball will be expected to be handed to Ryan Dempster who had an awful performance tonight, getting absolutly pounded by Toronto hitters. Worley also has not had the best season. He has a 7.15 ERA and a record of 1-4. The game is an 8:10 start on NESN.
Saturday: TBA vs Diamond
Hopefully the Red Sox will give the ball to Felix Doubront in this start, but right now who knows with this team. Doubront got his last start skipped but still pitched well coming out of the bullpen. Diamond is 3-3 on the year with a 4.08 ERA.
Sunday: TBA vs TBA
I expect Lackey to get the start for the Red Sox. His recent performances are written about above. The Twins have not announced their starter and I don not know their rotation well enough to take a guess on who will get the start for them.

This week is an important week for the team, they need to bounce back after the difficult and unsuccessful week they just had. Let me know how you think the team will do this week in the comments below or on twitter @ryanthahawaiian.