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Houston Astros (50-72) at Boston Red Sox (55-65), 6:10 p.m. (CST)
TV: CSN Houston, MLB.TV
Radio: KBME 790 AM, KLAT 1010 AM
Red Sox SBNation Blog: Over the Monster
Pitching matchup
LHP Dallas Keuchel (10-8, 3.07 ERA, 1.22 WHIP) vs. RHP Clay Buckholtz (5-7, 5.99 ERA, 1.57 WHIP)
Preview
The Astros must once again must pick themselves up after a tough loss. But, baseball is great in that way - Houston has a chance at redemption less then 24 hours after giving up seven runs in one inning.
On top of that, the Astros have arguably their best pitcher taking the mound today. Dallas Kuechel was on the cusp of being called upon for the All-Star Game when he hit a snag in his season. But, Kuechel has bounced back in the second part of the season. Allowing just two runs over his last 23 innings (two complete games) before his last start - August 10 vs. the Rangers. Keuchel struggled giving up five runs over six innings. He and Carlos Corporan shot themselves in the foot with passed balls, wild pitches, and walks.
On August 6, 2013, Keuchel working out of the pen faced the Red Sox. He gave up four runs over 0.2 innings of work. Dustin Pedoria and David Oritz both got hits in that inning. The former member of the Atheltics, Yoenis Cespedes, is 5-for-10 with a double against Kuehcel in his career.
The lone man left from the regular starting rotation for the Red Sox, Clay Buckholtz, takes the mound tonight. As evident with his metrics this season, Buchholtz has struggled. The native of Nederland, Tx has given up four or more runs in 11 of his 19 starts this season - in six of starts he has given up six or more runs. He has given up ten runs over his last 13 innings in the month of August.
That all said Buchholtz had his best outing by far in 2014 when he faced the Astros on July 13. He pitched a 3-hit shutout in Houston, walking none and striking out 12. Jason Castro (2-for-5) and Chris Carter (2-for-6, 1 2B) are the only Astros with any success against Buchholtz, all be it little success.