BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – As Boston braces for an extended nor’easter, the Red Sox and the visiting Chicago Cubs are looking to get ahead of the storm and make sure baseball gets played with a Friday doubleheader.
The teams will begin their final regular-season series with 1:05 and 6:05 p.m. games today. The opener originally was slated for Sunday. The clubs’ final regular-season game remains set for Saturday night, but it could be moved to another location with multiple days of continued wind and rain in the Boston-area forecast.
“There have been discussions around an alternate site. They’ve talked about a handful of different places. But at this point, nothing is concrete,” Red Sox manager Chad Tracy said before his team’s 1-0 loss to the Cleveland Guardians on Thursday.
The Cubs (88-71) earned a 2-1 win over the Miami Marlins on Thursday afternoon, clinching their second straight postseason berth.
It was a memorable day in Chicago even before the result. Pete Crow-Armstrong became the seventh 40-homer, 40-steal player in major league history after stealing second base in the first inning. The National League MVP favorite has 45 homers to go with his 40 steals.
“You’re just part of enjoying it,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “And I think it’s the things you remember about the job, moments like that and moments that he’s provided all of us.”
Chicago’s Seiya Suzuki homered and Nico Hoerner had the deciding RBI in the playoff clincher.
The Cubs have work to do this weekend if they want to host a best-of-three wild-card series. Chicago sits in the second NL wild-card spot, one game behind the San Diego Padres (89-70) and one game up on the Philadelphia Phillies (87-72). The top wild-card team stays home through the opening round of the playoffs.
“It’s a time when things feel stronger — the end of the season with a lot on the line,” Hoerner said. “Those are also times with the greatest opportunity, too. So just really leaning into all of it.”
The Cubs are expected to start Clay Holmes (6-8, 3.25 ERA) and David Peterson (9-8, 4.96) — both midseason acquisitions from the New York Mets — in the Friday games.
Holmes allowed six runs in 5 1/3 innings in a Sept. 18 loss to the Cincinnati Reds, and he is 0-2 with a 9.39 ERA in three starts this month. He has faced the Red Sox 21 times in his career (one start), going 4-2 with a 3.42 ERA and four saves.
Peterson threw six innings of one-run ball while fanning seven in each of his past two outings, including Sunday against the Reds. He is 2-1 with a 2.79 ERA in five career outings (three starts) opposite Boston.
The Red Sox (85-74) have lost four of their last five, scoring no more than two runs in any contest over that span. The recent series loss to Cleveland finished a split of consecutive 1-0 games, a Red Sox win on Wednesday and a Guardians victory on Thursday.
In the series finale, Boston managed only two hits, singles by Nick Sogard and Jarren Duran, wasting a solid five-inning pitching performance from Ranger Suarez.
Andruw Monasterio snapped an 0-for-21 skid with a game-winning RBI single the previous night.
“Over these next three games, if you see some (offense) bust out, that would be great,” Tracy said. “We did have some quality plate appearances from certain guys, which was good to see.”
Tracy’s lineup on Thursday included Ceddanne Rafaela in center field. One night earlier, Rafaela exited the game due to right hamstring tightness. However, first baseman Willson Contreras sat out his sixth game in a row.
Contreras was hit in the right hand by a pitch a week ago, and he couldn’t swing a bat the past two days. Tracy hopes to have him back for postseason play on Tuesday, but the first baseman gave a disappointing update about his condition.
“It’s really frustrating when you’re doing the best you can do, you’re expecting to heal faster and it doesn’t happen,” Contreras said.
Rookie southpaw Alec Gamboa (1-0, 1.16 ERA) will pitch for the Red Sox in the Friday afternoon game. He has made 20 appearances this season, including two outings as an opener. In his past 13 outings, he has allowed just two runs, one earned, in 18 innings (0.50 ERA).
Gamboa will be facing the Cubs for the first time.
Right-hander Brayan Bello (6-7, 4.49) is slated to start the nightcap after striking out 11 Tampa Bay Rays over eight innings of one-run ball on Saturday.
In two career starts vs. the Cubs, Bello is 1-1 with a 4.50 ERA.
–Field Level Media