News
Sox seek revenge vs. young A's fireballer
Oakland (42-57) vs. Boston (58-41), 7:10 p.m. ET
By John Barone / MLB.com
07/29/09 1:49 AM ET
BOSTON -- Brett Anderson didn't pitch a perfect game in his first career start at Fenway Park, but judging the tenor in the home clubhouse after the Oakland left-hander shut out the Red Sox earlier this month, one would think he'd just etched his name into the history books.There was no shortage of compliments for the rookie following one of the more dominating pitching performances against the Sox in quite some time.
"I don't think he could have done anything any better," outfielder Rocco Baldelli said of Anderson's complete-game two-hitter on July 6. "He has great stuff and seems like he has a really good idea of what he's doing out there. He located pretty much every pitch that I saw."
"You have to tip your hat to the kid tonight," said John Smoltz, who was on the losing end of Anderson's masterpiece. "He pitched a magnificent game."
"He absolutely abused us," said Jason Varitek, one of only two Red Sox players not to strike out against the 21-year-old Texan, who fanned a career-high nine during his 111 pitches.
Three weeks after the most impressive start of his brief Major League career, Anderson will toe the Fenway rubber once again on Wednesday night against a Boston offense that hasn't exactly been firing on all cylinders since the All-Star break.
"That was a day I'll never forget," Anderson said.
The Red Sox can only hope he isn't primed for a repeat performance.
Pitching matchupBOS: RHP Brad Penny (7-4, 4.71 ERA)
Penny earned his seventh victory of the season last Friday, limiting Baltimore to an unearned run over 6 1/3 innings at Fenway Park and improving to 5-1 with a 4.02 ERA in 10 home starts this season. He has a 1.59 ERA over his past five Fenway outings, a span of 28 1/3 innings. Penny fired seven frames of one-run ball in one career start against Oakland, striking out seven. OAK: LHP Brett Anderson (5-8, 4.32 ERA)
Anderson's streak of consecutive scoreless innings was snapped at 23 last Friday at Yankee Stadium, but he continued to pitch admirably. The left-hander tossed 6 2/3 frames of four-run ball against the Yankees, striking out seven. Although Anderson took the loss, the rookie said after the game that he did not believe his line score was indicative of how well he pitched. Tidbits
Manager Terry Francona said designated hitter David Ortiz likely won't start on Wednesday night. The slugger left Tuesday's game after his daughter was taken to an area hospital for precautionary reasons. ... Right-hander Tim Wakefield (lower back strain) played catch on Tuesday afternoon and reported that although he is still experiencing soreness, it is a "tolerable" discomfort. ... Center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury has recorded multihit games in each of his past five contests. ... Third baseman Mike Lowell has hit safely in each of his seven games since coming off the disabled list on July 17, batting .400 (10-for-25) over that span. Tickets
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• Thursday: Red Sox (Jon Lester, 9-7, 3.79) vs. Athletics (Gio Gonzalez, 2-2, 7.75), 1:35 p.m. ET
• Friday: Red Sox (John Smoltz, 1-4, 7.04) at Orioles (Jeremy Guthrie, 7-9, 5.21), 7:05 p.m. ET
• Saturday: Red Sox (Josh Beckett, 12-4, 3.44) at Orioles (David Hernandez, 3-2, 3.20), 7:05 p.m. ET
John Barone is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
