Chad Tracy ascended to Interim Manager of the Boston Red Sox in Baltimore. Tonight, he returns to the scene as a favorite for AL Manager of the Year.
Once again the Red Sox are in a bit of chaos. The pitching has given up 8 runs a game or a stretch, former Oriole Adley Rutschman hasn’t made the impact that was expected, but Roman Anthony and Trevor Story returned to great success. Boston is 4.5 games up on Cleveland for the third Wild Card and 6.0 above the Orioles, generally. If the O’s sweep they’ll be right in the playoff mix and Boston could be in trouble. But they need that sweep.
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Jake Bennett will have something to say about the O’s chances. Since his struggles entering August, Bennett has found a second wind. His game was the only win against the Yankees in New York with 6.0 shutout innings and 7 strikeouts against zero walks. This is a guy who handled the Dodgers lineup and has been impressive in almost every start since his callup. He held the O’s to 3 runs in 5/2 innings back in July. Righty Brandon Young started the infamous Friday April 24 game against the Sox. This is the night that probably ended Alex Cora’s career. Brayan Bello was shelled for 8 runs in 3.1 while Young allowed 3 runs in 5.2, which would be all the Sox could score. Batters have improved against Young ever month of the season and finished August with a cumulative .295/.362/.486 against him.
What is Ranger Suarez at this point? An ugly 6-run performance against the Yankees reset some of the progress he had been making. His start kicked off a five-game stretch of the pitching allowing at least 8 runs per game. The Mariners don’t even have Pete Alonso. The O’s haven’t seen him yet this year so maybe that will help. This is Shane Baz’s third start against Boston and he’s held them to 6 runs (3 earned) in 13 innings. He has’t had to deal with the Roman Empire so far.
Sonny Gray hopefully just needed as skipped start. It did wonders for Bennett to have extra rest. Fingers crossed that’s all because the Sox need Gray at his best the rest of the way. He too hasn’t faced the Orioles in 2026. Chris Bassitt faced Boston way back on June 3 and then missed two months, He allowed 3 runs in 3.3 innings on the way to a Sox 8-1 victory. He allowed 5 runs to the A’s last time out. As we’ve seen the A’s can play very well.
The series closes with Payton Tolle. Hopefully the split is already secure here. Tolle got into some trouble against the Mariners and after 5.2 innings and, well, the bullpen couldn’t get one out. The Sox rallied around Mass Pike to win 9-8 in 10 innings. The previous start featured Jarren Duran’s 11th inning grand slam. And before that was a 7-6 loss to the Dbacks in 10 innings. Maybe score him runs early this time? Kyle Bradish was the losing pitcher in Chad Tracy’s debut back on April 26th. He closes out the series on another Sunday. In 11 innings he’s allowed 4 runs to Boston while striking out 7 and walking 5. He missed most of 2024 and 2025 so now at just about 150 innings it’s possiuble he’s wearing down. Batters posted an OPS just under .900 against him in August and he lost to the Rockies last time out.
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Famously traded starting catcher Adley Rutschman.
Gunnar Henderson just finished a .245/.377/.447 August representing his season turnaround. He’s always dangerous.
Pete Alonso is at 32 homers.
Old friend Tyler O’ Neill is back on the IL.
Probable Pitching Matchups
Thursday, September 3: Jake Bennett (3.27 ERA / 3.16 FIP) vs. Brandon Young (3.38 ERA / 4.32 FIP)
Friday, September 4: Ranger Suarez (3.64 ERA / 3.10 FIP) vs. Shane Baz (4.01 ERA / 3.36 FIP)
Saturday, September 5: Sonny Gray (2.82 ERA / 3.35 FIP) vs. Chris Bassett (4.97 ERA / 4.61 FIP)
Sunday, September 6: Payton Tolle (3.23 ERA / 3.28 FIP) vs. Kyle Bradish (4.01 ERA / 4.10 FIP)
When/Where to Watch
Thursday, September 3: 7:15 PM ET on FOX
Friday, September 4: 7:05 PM ET on NESN
Saturday, September 5: 7:05 PM ET on NESN
Sunday, September 6: 1:35 PM ET on NESN
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