Tonight the Indians kick off a three game series against the hated Boston Red Sox at Jacobs Field… err… Progressive Field. It should be interesting to see what happens. Can the Indians continue some of the limited success they experienced versus Chicago? Will the Red Sox, who come in 0-3 and were thoroughly beaten like a red-headed step child by Texas, use the Indians as the medicine for what ails them? Can the Indians pitching hold up against the vaunted Boston Red Sox lineup? What about the Indians hitters, can they take advantage of a Boston staff that gave up home run after home run in its first three games?
We should know the answers to those questions by the end of the 4th inning. At least that’s my best guess. On a 
positive, if you’re going to have the Red Sox come into your stadium for their first and only visit this year it can’t get any better than this. There is a lot of pressure on them and getting off to a 0-3 start hasn’t helped. Not to mention, they send Josh Beckett to the mound for the first start of the season coming off a spring in which he was largely ineffective and possibly even hurt. Will they be tight? We’ll see.
If the Indians want to keep winning, they’ll need the bats to keep swinging. Despite the results in the Chicago series the Indians actually hit the ball pretty well, particularly Santana and Hafner. Jack Hannahan was also a pleasant surprise getting off to a hot start over the weekend. Now if only Choo can bust out of the mini slump he’s found himself in to start the year after he tore it up this spring. The fact the Tribe scored as many runs as they did with limited production from Choo is amazing. However, it’s a trend that can’t continue moving forward. And Matt LaPorta… How about you show a sign of life? Is that too much to ask for?
Anyways…
Here are the line ups for tonight’s game:
Indians:
- Michael Brantley, CF
- Asdrubal Cabrera, SS
- Shin-Soo Choo, RF
- Carlos Santana, C
- Travis Hafner, DH
- Orlando Cabrera, 2B
- Austin Kearn, LF
- Matt LaPorta, 1B
- Jack Hannahan, 3B
- Josh Tomlin, P
Boston:
- Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
- Carl Crawford, LF
- Dustin Pedroia, 2B
- Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
- Kevin Youkilis, 3B
- David Ortiz, DH
- J.D. Drew, RF
- Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C
- Marco Scutaro, SS
- Josh Beckett, P
about as entertaining as watching a 4-year-old throw a temper tantrum in the toy aisle of Target. I love it, I relish it. Granted, this is going to make my home life a living hell. The Yankee Loving Fiance is none to pleased about the recent developments. If I’m not careful over the next 24 hours I might take a fork to the forehead… or worse. 
Buzzerhut
