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