The Arizona Diamondbacks (74-56) look to win three games against the Boston Red Sox (67-61) on Sunday at Boston’s historic Fenway Park. First pitch is at 10:35 a.m. Arizona time, 1:35 p.m. EST. The D-backs won the first two games 12-2 and 4-1, keeping the normally excellent Boston lineup in check.
The Diamondbacks are 3.0 games behind the Dodgers in the NL West and currently hold the first NL Wild Card spot, 1.5 games ahead of the Padres and 3.5 games ahead of the Braves. The Mets, who Arizona will play in the next series, are six games behind Arizona.
The Red Sox are 4.5 games behind the Minnesota Twins in the battle for the third AL wild spot with 34 games remaining.
Pavin Smith starts in left field, filling in for Lourdes Gurriel Jr. Smith has played rarely since being recalled to the roster to replace the injured Ketel Marte. He is 0-8 with two walks in his previous two starts on August 19 and 21.
Tyler O’Neil is back in left field for the Red Sox. He missed the first two games of the series due to inflammation of his left fourth finger, an injury sustained during batting practice. He has faced D-backs starter Merrill Kelly 17 times in his career but has only managed one hit. That was a home run in 2019.
Merrill Kelly RHP, 3-0, 3.63 ERA, 4.07 FIP in 34.2 IP
Kelly is making his third start since missing nearly four months with a strained teres major muscle in his left shoulder. He looked good in his first game back, going five innings against the Phillies and allowing two runs on three hits and two walks.
His second game was a different story. With his fastball reaching 89.6 mph and his control not as sharp as usual, he allowed six runs on eight hits, two walks and a home run against the Rays on August 18.
Afterward, Kelly said the loss of speed isn’t a big issue for him as long as he doesn’t stay in that range. Loss of speed is often associated with shoulder injuries, but he hasn’t reported any excessive shoulder discomfort since returning.
Tanner Houck RHP, 8-8, 3.01 ERA, 3.19 FIP in 152.2 IP
The 28-year-old won’t impress you with his velocity, as his sinker averages a solid but unspectacular 93.4 mph. He throws his sweeper more often than any other pitch (42%) compared to the sinker (31.6%). His out pitch against lefties is a splitter with well above average vertical break.
Houck was selected 24th overall in the first round of the 2017 draft by the Red Sox. He made his major league debut during the 2020 pandemic season. A down year last year was followed by the best season of his career so far. In his last three games, he has thrown 18.2 innings, allowed six runs, five earned, 2.41 ERA.
Houck has a great reverse split, allowing just a .213 BA and .576 OPS against lefties, compared to a .255 BA and .659 OPS against righties.
Crawford has the fourth-highest ground ball percentage in MLB at 55.8%. He keeps the ball in yards and allows just nine home runs. His 0.53 home runs per nine innings are also fourth-best in MLB. Houck’s quality start percentage of 72% (18-25) is sixth-best in MLB.
The D-backs’ bullpen has been very good in this series. The only run allowed in six innings of the last two games came in the ninth inning against Paul Sewald on Saturday. That forced Torey Lovullo to warm up Justin Martinez during the inning, but he didn’t have to enter the game. Martinez has been busy lately and it would have been better if he didn’t have to warm up at all.
The Red Sox bullpen is the worst in MLB since the All-Star break with a 6.70 ERA. They have not pitched well in this series, allowing nine runs in 7.2 innings pitched.
