Both the Cleveland Indians and the Boston Red Sox have had a decent start to the season. With relatively equal records, both teams will aim to breakout during the summer. As Cleveland comes into Boston for a weekend series, they will have to try and breakout against one of the Red Sox's aces.
Jon Lester gets the start for the Red Sox. He has pitched extremely well against the Indians and excels even further when pitching at home. Lester is 6-1 on the season with a 3.15 ERA. He is making his first home start against Cleveland since 2010 after playing them well on the road. In 2011, he went 3-0 against Cleveland with a 1.04 ERA. In a total of 26 innings, he struck out 33 batters. He will now carry that success into Fenway where he has been dominant. He has a 1.66 ERA when pitching in Boston. In his last home start, he sat down the first 17 batters, finishing with just one hit in a 5-0 win.
Lester is coming off a rough last outing. He gave up six runs in six innings to the Chicago White Sox. He is set to face off one of his familiar rivals, Nick Swisher. The outfielder is in his first season in Cleveland and in his career against Lester, he has 15 hits off 49 at bats. The Cleveland offense is struggling, Swisher might be the key to get it going. The Indians have just two home runs in their last four games.
Cleveland will bring Scott Kazmir to the mound. The pitcher is struggling this season, going 2-2 with a 6.35 ERA. In his last two starts, Kazmir has a 10.13 ERA. In his start Monday, he lasted three innings, giving up five runs and seven hits total. He has plenty of knowledge of Boston. In his career, he has 139 2/3 innings on the team. His lifetime ERA against the AL team is 4.06.
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