The Texas Rangers (36-22) and Boston Red Sox (36-24) will look to take the decisive win in the rubber match of their series at Fenway Park on Thursday night. The first pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. ET and will air live on NESN or online on MLB.com with a paid subscription.
Derek Holland (5-2) hopes the success he enjoyed in May for the Texas Rangers will carry into June as he tries to continue his recent dominance over the Red Sox.
Holland went 4-0 with a 2.31 ERA in six starts last month, starting May 3 when he allowed six hits and struck out nine in eight innings of a 7-0 victory over Boston. Since Holland allowed four runs in 4 2/3 innings of an 8-1 loss in his first start against the Red Sox on June 6, 2009, he is 5-0 with a 1.73 ERA against them. He's yielded a two-run homer and five other hits over 14 innings to win his last two appearances at Fenway.
The only earned run Holland allowed through 13 2/3 innings while winning his last two starts came across seven frames of a 7-2 win over the Royals on Friday.
"He's certainly pitching well. He was outstanding again," manager Ron Washington said. "Once again, he stayed out of the fat part of the plate, and off the fat part of the bat for the most part.
"If Yu Darvish wasn't on the staff we have right now, I guess you'd say Derek would probably be the ace."
Holland will match up against fellow lefty John Lester (6-2). Lester went 6-0 with a 2.72 ERA in his first nine starts but is 0-2 with a 6.05 ERA in the last three. He allowed four runs and walked four in 6 1/3 innings of a 4-1 loss at Yankee Stadium on Friday.
"Bad pitches, behind in the count, not having command of the baseball. The list goes on," said Lester, who has yielded 23 hits and walked eight over 19 1/3 innings in the last three outings.
© 2023 Sportsworldnews.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
