June 17 MLB Interleague Odds: Brewers vs Red Sox and John Lackey
Friday, June 17, 2011
by Frank Martin
The way the Boston Red Sox and Milwaukee Brewers have been playing, it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to call their interleague series a possible World Series preview. The Red Sox return to interleague play on Friday night when they host the Brewers in a battle of division leaders.
Boston is coming off an 8-1 road trip and owns the best record in the American League. Milwaukee, which like Boston started the season slowly, currently sits atop the NL Central Division. John Lackey starts for the Red Sox against the red-hot Shaun Marcum at Fenway Park.
- Milwaukee Brewers (39-31) vs. Boston Red Sox (41-27)
When: 7:10 PM ET, Friday, June 17, 2011
Where: Fenway Park, Boston, Massachusetts
TV: 7:10 p.m. ET, FSWI, NESN
The Red Sox have opened as 128-moneyline favorites on Bet Online Sportsbook’s Live MLB Baseball Odds.
RH Shaun Marcum (7-2, 2.68 ERA) vs. Red Sox RH John Lackey (4-5, 7.41 ERA).
Marcum is no stranger to the Red Sox after spending the first six years of his career in Toronto. He seems to be a different pitcher this year, however. Opponents are batting just .208 against the righthander, who has a WHIP of 1.01. Marcum is 5-5 with a 4.38 ERA in 16 appearances against the Red Sox and was just 1-3 against them last season with a 5.34 ERA. While the Brewers have lost three of his past four starts, Marcum has allowed just 10 earned runs in 26 innings over that span.
Lackey has won two straight starts since returning from the disabled list due to a strained elbow. He struck out a season-high eight in his last start, a 16-4 rout of Toronto. Lackey has allowed seven runs and 10 hits in his last two wins. While those numbers aren’t daunting, they are much improved from an early-season stretch that left some to speculate he could be released. With Daisuke Matsuzaka out for the season, Lackey is a key part of Boston’s pennant hopes.
The Red Sox have seen a long list of potential All-Star pitchers recently, but it hasn’t stopped their torrid pace. Boston has beaten aces CC Sabathia, David Price and Brett Anderson while winning 11 of their last 12 games.
The Red Sox are 26-13 over the past three seasons in interleague play. They haven’t faced Milwaukee since 2008 when the Red Sox swept a three-game series at Fenway Park. Boston starter Clay Buchholz left Thursday’s game with lower back stiffness. Shortstop Jed Lowrie reinjured his shoulder on Thursday and is not expected to play Friday.
Prince Fielder’s seven home runs tied for the most in the majors when the Brewers went 9-6 in interleague play last season. This is their first interleague series of 2011. Milwaukee has lost three of its last four games, all coming in a frustrating series against the Cubs at Wrigley Field. Zack Greinke was drilled for a season-high eight runs on eight hits in a 12-7 loss Thursday. The Brewers sent left-handed reliever Zach Braddock to Triple-A because he was late to pregame workouts.
Boston closer Jonathan Papelbon is still awaiting word from Major League Baseball on the appeal of his three-game suspension. If Papelbon drops his appeal, he could serve the punishment immediately. Papelbon notched his 13th save Thursday.
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boston red sox - brett anderson - cc sabathia - clay buchholz - daisuke matsuzaka - david price - fenway park - jed lowrie - john lackey - jonathan papelbon
