First pitch is 7:10 PM ET on Friday and the pitching matchup is its own story. Tyler Samaniego (0-2, 1.04 ERA) gets the ball for Boston, which means this is a bullpen day dressed up as a start — the lefty has been a reliever all year and was even briefly optioned earlier in May before the Sox needed his arm back. Slade Cecconi (3-5, 5.18) goes for Cleveland off a 5-inning, 3-ER loss in Philadelphia last week.
The injury list is doing most of the talking for the Red Sox rotation. Garrett Crochet, Tanner Houck, Kutter Crawford, Patrick Sandoval and Johan Oviedo are all on the IL, which is why Chad Tracy is patching Friday together with relievers. On the position-player side, Trevor Story is 6-10 weeks out from sports-hernia surgery and Roman Anthony is still working back from a finger issue. There is no good way to dress this up.
- Day-To-DayHobie Harris RP — Harris was optioned to Triple-A Rochester on Saturday, Jesse Dougherty of The Washington Post reports.
- 10-Day-ILRoman Anthony LF — Anthony (finger) took 12-to-15 dry swings without any discomfort Tuesday, Ian Browne of MLB.com reports.
- 10-Day-ILTrevor Story SS — Story underwent surgery to repair a sports hernia Thursday and will be sidelined 6-10 weeks, Tim Healey of The Boston Globe reports.
- 15-Day-ILGarrett Whitlock RP — Whitlock has been unavailable to pitch since tweaking his left knee on a wet mound in his last appearance Sunday against the Twins, Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic reports.
- 15-Day-ILGarrett Crochet SP — Crochet (shoulder) said that he's scheduled to throw a second live batting practice session Sunday, Mac Cerullo of the Boston Herald reports.
- 60-Day-ILTriston Casas 1B — Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy told reporters Wednesday that Casas (abdomen/knee) is close to being cleared to swing a bat, Christopher Smith of MassLive.com reports.
- 60-Day-ILPatrick Sandoval SP — Sandoval (biceps/elbow) threw a 30-pitch bullpen session Wednesday, Christopher Smith of MassLive.com reports.
- 60-Day-ILRomy Gonzalez 1B — Gonzalez (shoulder) has started hitting flips, MLB.com reports.
- Day-To-DayCarlos Hernandez RP — Hernandez (shoulder) began his rehab assignment with Triple-A Omaha on Friday.
- 10-Day-ILGabriel Arias SS — no
- bereavementSteven Kwan CF — Kwan went 3-for-4 with an RBI in Sunday's 3-1 win over Philadelphia.
- 15-Day-ILErik Sabrowski RP — Sabrowski (elbow) underwent an MRI on Tuesday which confirmed inflammation but no structural damage, MLB.com reports.
Cleveland has its own bodies missing — Steven Kwan is on the bereavement list and Gabriel Arias landed on the 10-day IL on Friday morning — but the Guardians are 33-25 and just took the rubber game from Washington 3-2. Pinnacle has them at -114 on the moneyline with the run line set at -1.5 (+182), and the total sits at 7.5. That moneyline price tells you the market sees this as close to a coin flip despite the records, mostly because Boston is throwing relievers and Cecconi's 5.18 ERA is what it is.
Recent form is a mixed bag on both sides. The Sox have dropped 4 of 5, with the lone bright spot being an 8-0 blanking of Atlanta on Tuesday before getting punched in the mouth 10-2 the next night. The Guardians are 2-3 in their last 5 and got run 10-2 by the Nationals at home earlier this week, so the home crowd is not exactly walking in feeling bulletproof either.
The angle to watch: how deep can Boston actually go with this staff? Samaniego has been excellent in short bursts (1.04 ERA over 17.1 innings), but stretching the bullpen across 9 innings against a Cleveland lineup that grinds at-bats is the kind of plan that looks fine in innings 1-4 and ugly in innings 5-7. If Cecconi gives Cleveland anything resembling 5-and-3, the Guardians should be in the driver's seat. If he doesn't, the under at +105 starts looking less appealing in a hurry.