BOSTON — Back on June 10 http://www.padresfanproshop.com/authentic-wil-myers-jersey , after allowing 13 hits and five earned runs in a start against the Texas Rangers, Dallas Keuchel was 3-8 with a 4.45 ERA in his final season before potential free agency.The left-hander is 8-2 with a 2.62 ERA since as he tries to pitch the Houston Astros to a sweep of their three-game series with the Boston Red Sox in Sunday night’s series finale at Fenway Park.Rick Porcello, a 16-game winner who has had his second-half struggles, goes for the Red Sox, who have lost their first home series in the last 11 thanks to losses Friday and Saturday.Article continues below ...The Astros, maintaining their 3 1/2-game lead over the winning Oakland A’s in the American League West, rallied for a 6-3 victory Friday night and got homers from Alex Bregman and Martin Maldonado in Saturday’s 5-3 win — their seventh straight and 14th in their last 17 games.Jake Marisnick made an outstanding running catch of an Andrew Benintendi drive with the bases loaded and two outs in the fourth inning. He also had a sacrifice fly.Bregman’s homer was his career-high 30th of the season, something he called “a nice little accomplishment.” He joins Morgan Ensberg as the only Astros third basemen to reach 30 — and his torrid streak has vaulted him into the MVP conversation.Boston’s Mookie Betts ripped his 40th double of the year Saturday, making him the first player in MLB history with four straight seasons of 40 doubles and 20 stolen bases.The Red Sox scored in the ninth inning and had first and third with one out against Roberto Osuna, but J.D. Martinez grounded into a double play to end it.“Any time he comes up, regardless of the score, we feel that he’s gonna barrel something,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora, the bench coach for last year’s Houston champions, said. “Just a good pitch by Osuna Rickey Henderson Jersey , and he got him to roll over and that was it.“I don’t know what the numbers are with men in scoring position (3-for-13), but it felt like we had traffic in both games and we haven’t been able to cash in. They made some pitches too — you’ve got to give them credit.”Keuchel has won his last two starts to climb above .500, yielding three earned runs in 12 innings.He is 0-1 with a whopping 9.88 ERA in three games (two starts) in the regular season against Boston. But he went 5 2/3 innings, allowing one run, in winning Game 2 of last season’s American League Division Series.Porcello is 16-7 with a 4.20 ERA. He has won his last two starts, but gave up five runs in 10 innings in those games and is 2-3 with a 5.73 ERA in his last six outings.He beat the Astros on June 3 in Houston, going 6 1/3 innings and allowing two earned runs — and is 2-1 lifetime against them.The current Red Sox are hitting a combined .219 lifetime with four home runs against Keuchel. Ian Kinsler is 10-for-33, but Mitch Moreland (likely to sit) is 1-for-13, Steve Pearce 2-for-19 with a home run, Martinez 1-for-9 and Xander Bogaerts 1-for-7 with a homer.The Astros on the roster have hit a combined .268 with four home runs against Porcello. Marwin Gonzalez, who returned as a pinch runner in the ninth inning Saturday, is 3-for-7 and Josh Reddick 3-for-10, and Maldonado is 2-for-9 with a home run.Lance McCullers Jr., out since Aug. 4 with a right forearm strain, threw his second bullpen of the week Saturday — 30 pitches http://www.padresfanproshop.com/authentic-ozzie-smith-jersey , all fastballs.“Honestly I couldn’t have hoped for a better pen today,” McCullers said. “It’s a good step forward. I still have a couple more boxes to check before we start getting into games, but this was a big step for me.”Cora indicated before the game that Brandon Phillips will get his second start with the Red Sox in Sunday night’s game. He hit a two-run, ninth-inning homer to win Wednesday’s game in Atlanta. CLEVELAND — Two teams that have won their respective divisions three years in a row will meet Saturday night at Progressive Field for the second game of a three-game series that could be a potential preview of a postseason series.The 105-win Boston Red Sox, the American League East champions, will face the 85-win Cleveland Indians, the AL Central champs. The two teams split a four-game series in Boston last month. Boston beat Cleveland 7-5 on Friday night, the Red Sox’s 105th win of the season, tying the franchise record set in 1912.Saturday’s pitching matchup will be two right-handers, Boston’s Rick Porcello vs. Cleveland’s Mike Clevinger.Article continues below ...Porcello (17-7, 4.30 ERA) is coming off a 5-3 win over the New York Mets in his last start, on Sept. 15. In that game, Porcello pitched five innings, giving up three runs and two hits with five strikeouts and one walk.Porcello’s last start against Cleveland came Aug. 20. The Red Sox lost that game and Porcello took the loss, pitching seven innings and allowing five runs and six hits Cory Spangenberg Jersey , with six strikeouts and one walk. In his career against the Indians, Porcello has made 23 starts and is 10-5 with a 3.51 ERA.Clevinger is on a late-season roll. In his last eight starts, he is 5-1 with a 1.85 ERA while holding opposing hitters to a .189 batting average.Those numbers include his last start, a 15-0 win over Detroit on Sept. 15. Clevinger pitched six scoreless innings, allowing just one hit, with five strikeouts and three walks.Clevinger last faced Boston on Aug. 21, 2017, when he got no decision in a 5-4 Cleveland victory. He pitched 4 1/3 innings, giving up four runs and four hits, with four strikeouts, four walks and two home runs allowed.Boston is not one of Clevinger’s preferred opponents. In two starts against the Red Sox last year, his only two career appearances against Boston, he was 0-1 with an 11.05 ERA. In 7 1/3 innings in those two starts, he gave up nine runs, 11 hits and eight walks.One of the hitters in Boston’s potent lineup that Clevinger will have to pay particular attention to is MVP candidate J.D. Martinez http://www.padresfanproshop.com/authentic-eric-hosmer-jersey , who in his four years with the Detroit Tigers, wore out Cleveland pitching. Martinez is a career .308 hitter vs. Cleveland, and he has more home runs (18) and RBIs (54) against the Indians than against any other opponent in the major leagues.This year, Martinez is having a career year. He leads the league in RBIs (124) and is second in the AL in hitting (.330) and second in home runs (41).“Unless you make your pitches to him, he can do some damage,” Indians manager Terry Francona said. “He can pull it with power, hit it the other way with power. He’s taken things to another level this year. He’s really dangerous.”A key hitter for the Indians is third baseman Josh Donaldson, who was acquired in a trade with Toronto on Aug. 31, and is trying to get up to speed after spending most of the 2018 season on the disabled list with a strained calf.Donaldson was used as the designated hitter Friday night, and Francona said he will start at third base on Saturday and Sunday, the first time since joining Cleveland that Donaldson has played three games in a row.“He’s gotten himself in great shape, and it’s paying off,” Francona said. “We’re trying to play him enough without playing too much.”
