Boston's turnaround season meets a Marlins club that's still trying to find its footing when these two get together in Miami on Monday, August 24.
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MON AUG 24 · 6:40 PM ET
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Neither team has announced a starter for Monday's series opener, so how this one shapes up on the mound is still unsettled three days out. First pitch at loanDepot Park is scheduled for 6:40 PM ET, and both rotations arrive shorthanded — Boston without Garrett Crochet, Tanner Houck, Johan Oviedo, Kutter Crawford and Zack Kelly, all on the 60-day injured list, and Miami still piecing things together behind Max Meyer, who's been dealing with neck and rib discomfort.
The lineups tell a similar story. Boston is without Triston Casas, Roman Anthony, Masataka Yoshida, Trevor Story, Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Curtis Mead, a run of injuries interim manager Chad Tracy has had to navigate all summer. Miami's dealing with its own absences, including Kyle Stowers, who's working back from a hamstring injury, and reliever Anthony Bender, who began a rehab assignment earlier this month. There's no line posted for this one yet, so the market hasn't had a chance to weigh in on how much either injury list actually moves the needle.
What makes this matchup interesting is the gap in how each season has gone. Boston fired Alex Cora back in April and handed the job to Tracy, who inherited a roster full of question marks — then watched it rip off a 15-game winning streak and stay hot for six weeks, complete with sweeps of the Dodgers and White Sox. Miami's summer went the other way: a franchise-record 12-game losing streak in July that buried any real playoff hope and has left Clayton McCullough fielding questions about consistency ever since.
Boston Red Sox
Miami Marlins
Both clubs have business to attend to before they get here. Boston hosts the Giants for three games first, and Miami has a three-game home set against the Nationals — enough baseball that the bullpens, and maybe the lineups, look different by the time Monday rolls around. Neither series figures to change the bigger picture, but a taxed bullpen or a lingering tweak from either set could easily bleed into this one.
Boston Red Sox
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Fully healthy — no injuries to report
Miami Marlins
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Fully healthy — no injuries to report
Whatever version of each team shows up Monday, this is a clean contrast — a club that overachieved its way into relevance against one that's spent the summer trying to avoid another slide. That alone makes it worth a look even before the board fills in.
