Daniel Mengden (1-5, 5.73 ERA) and Rick Porcello (18-3, 3.26 ERA) are on the hill in the second of a three-game series between the Oakland Athletics (57-77) and the Boston Red Sox (75-59) at O.C. Coliseum. The Red Sox won the last game 16-2, and Boston leads the series 1-0. Action begins at 9:05 p.m. ET on Saturday, Sep. 3 and can be seen on CSCA and NESN.
Mengden pitched 4.2 innings in his last outing, surrendering four runs, striking out five and walking three in a 7-6 defeat to the Rangers. Danny Valencia (.296, 57 Rs, 15 HRs, 45 RBIs) went 1 for 2 yesterday with one run. Porcello went 7.0 innings, surrendering three runs and striking out seven in a 9-4 win over the Rays in his most recent start. David Ortiz (.315, 65 Rs, 31 HRs, 105 RBIs, 2 SBs) has been successful at the plate for the Red Sox, going 2 for 2 yesterday with one run and three RBIs.
Notes
For the 20th time this season, the Athletics registered at least two errors in a game.
The Athletics managed to give up six walks in their last game. They’ll have to pick it up against the Red Sox who are coming in with a 14-7 record against opponents who give up that many walks or more.
It looks like the Red Sox have a slight leg up on the Athletics, as the Red Sox have won their last two games while the Athletics have lost their last four.
When they outhit their opponents, the Athletics are 39-14. The Red Sox have a 65-16 record when outhitting opponents.
Boston tops the league in runs with 738 this season. Oakland ranks near the bottom at 28th with 526.
Boston tops the league for its on-base plus slugging percentage of .823 this season. Oakland ranks near the bottom at 27th with an OPS of .699.
The Red Sox are 44-48 in games where they allow one or more home runs. The Athletics are 29-63 when they allow at least one homer.
