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MLB on Sling TV: Yankees at Red Sox on ESPN; regional action on Fox Sports Networks

May 01, 2016 by Scott Ross

New York Yankees (Eovaldi 1-2, 4.38) at Boston Red Sox (Price 3-0, 5.76)
8pm ET on ESPN

Nathan Eovaldi had a rough 2016 debut, but has been getting progressively better. In his last start he managed to throw 7 shutout innings of 2-hit ball while striking out 6 Rangers en route to a 3-1 win. Though his strikeouts have gone down slightly since his first two starts, Eovaldi has been issuing far fewer walks, while also keeping the ball in the park – in each of his first two starts he coughed up a pair of gopher balls, but none since. If he can maintain a 5.6 KO/BB ratio (he can’t) while keeping his homers in check and averaging 6 IP, he’ll be very valuable to the pitching poor Bombers. More likely, he’ll be a serviceable middle-of-the-rotation guy.

In 1999, Pedro Martinez became the first starter in baseball history to average more than 13 strikeouts per 9 innings pitched, in the process posting a league-leading ERA of 2.07. In 2001, Randy Johnson became the second, with a league-leading ERA of 2.49. So far this season, David Price is averaging 14 K’s per 9IP over 29 ⅔ innings* covering 5 starts – and for his efforts, he has an ERA of 5.76 – WTF? In his first start, an Opening Day win over the Indians (6 IP, 2 R, 10 K), he looked like the man the Sox thought they were getting. In his second start he gave up just 5 hits and 2 walks over 5 innings while striking out 8 – but five of those guys reached base consecutively, all of them scoring. His third start was vintage Price – 7 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 10 K – as the Sox won 2-0 over the Jays. Start #4 was an apocalypse: 3 ⅔ IP, 8 H, 8 R, 2 BB, 5 K, 2 HR, as he again let on 5 guys in a row, leading to a 6-run inning and an early shower. But on Tuesday, Price was back to his old self, throwing 8 innings of 2-run ball while giving up just 6 hits and 2 walks while whiffing 14. Thus every other start has been a disaster, and his last one was brilliant – fingers crossed!

Watch the Boston Red Sox at the New York Yankees at 8pm ET Sunday on ESPN by subscribing to the Best of Live TV package..

And here’s the action from the FOX Sports regional networks across the land…

Toronto Blue Jays (Stroman 3-0, 4.37) at Tampa Bay Rays (Odorizzi 0-1, 3.58) 1:10pm ET on Fox Sports Sun

Cincinnati Reds (Iglesias 1-1, 3.49) at Pittsburgh Pirates (Locke 1-2, 5.03) 1:35pm ET on FOX Sports Cincinnati

Detroit Tigers (Pelfrey 0-4, 4.64) at Minnesota Twins (0-1, 5.40 WLERA) 2:10pm ET on FOX Sports Detroit & FOX Sports North

Miami Marlins (Koehler 2-2, 4.50) at Milwaukee Brewers (Peralta 1-3, 7.40) 2:10pm ET on FOX Sports Florida & FOX Sports Wisconsin

Washington Nationals (Scherzer 2-1, 4.35) at St. Louis Cardinals (Martinez 4-0, 1.93) 2:15pm ET on FOX Sports Midwest

Atlanta Braves (Wisler 0-2, 4.26) at Chicago Cubs (Hammel 3-0, 0.75) 2:20pm ET on FOX Sports South

Cleveland Indians (Salazar 2-1, 2.35) at Philadelphia Phillies (Velasquez 3-1, 1.78) 2:35pm ET on SportsTime Ohio

Los Angeles Angels (Richards 1-3, 2.35) at Texas Rangers (Hamels 3-0, 2.52) 3:05pm ET on FOX Sports Southwest & FOX Sports West

Colorado Rockies (Bettis 2-1, 3.77) at Arizona Diamondbacks (Miller 0-2, 8.69) 4:10pm ET on FOX Sports Arizona

Kansas City Royals (Kennedy 2-2, 2.77) at Seattle Mariners (Walker 2-0, 1.44) 4:10pm ET on FOX Sports Kansas City

San Diego Padres (Pomeranz 2-2, 2.86) at Los Angeles Dodgers (Kershaw 2-1, 2.43) 4:10pm ET on FOX Sports San Diego

Watch baseball on FOX and FOX Sports Regional Networks by subscribing to the Best of Live TV Beta Multi-Stream package..

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