The Red Sox return from a 5-5 road trip to the West Coast to face the Rangers and then the Angels in two series at Fenway this week.
The Sox are 7-9 at Fenway this season, the worst home record in the division and the 4th-worst in baseball.
Worse, for the month of May, Boston bats have gone cold. The club is batting .208, slugging .334, and has a .613 OPS, all three the lowest-marks in baseball. Only the Orioles have managed fewer hits this month than the Red Sox (109).
The Sox have lost 10 of their last 16 games since the start of May and have been outscored 65-38 in that time.
While it may be good to be home, the Sox’ losing record at Fenway combined with the Rangers’ abysmal home record of 6-13 this season may make Manager Farrell wish his club was on the road for this series.
The Rangers are 4-6 for their last 10 and 10-9 on the road this season. Their overall record is 16-22, their 3rd-fewest win in 38 total games since 2007 when they were 15-23. Sox fans will hope that trend can continue as Texas has done well against the Red Sox and done well at Fenway, particularly lately. Since 2009 the Rangers’ 31-18 record against Boston is the best mark of any club with 10 or more games in that span. At 14-10 the Rangers also own the best winning percentage of any visitor with 7 or more games at Fenway since 2009.
In 2014 the Red Sox won the season series versus the Rangers 4-2, the same measure by which they won the season set over the Sox in 2013. This season the two clubs will match up 7 times: 3 this week follow by an early-season, 4-game set in Arlington next week that will allow Boston to avoid the blistering heat and humidity of a mid-summer matchup there.
Game 1 matchups
Game 1 of this series features Yovani Gallardo for the Rangers against Wade Miley for the Sox. Gallardo pitched 7.0 innings last time out against a tough Kansas City Royals club and came away with the win after allowing just 2 runs on 6 hits and 1 walk while striking out 2. It was a positive outing for Gallardo after four straight losses.
Last week in Oakland, Miley repeatedly danced out of harm’s way, throwing 6.2 shut out innings despite allowing 4 walks, including 2 to start the bottom of the first inning. Miley allowed a lead off triple in the third inning but the runner never scored. On paper, it seemed an unlikely spot for a win as the Red Sox faced the Athletics ace, Sonny Gray. But in the end Boston came away with a 2-0 shut out victory, ending Miley’s string of 3 straight losses.