LATE HEROICS IN THE BRONX: The Red Sox won their last 2 of 3 games at Yankee Stadium over the weekend, with Boston scoring the deciding runs of each victory in the 9th inning or later…It marked the 1st time the Red Sox defeated the Yankees in 2 straight games of a series while scoring the go-ahead runs in the 9th or later in each since 6/29-30/79 at Yankee Stadium (Jerry Remy RBI single in the 13th inning on 6/29 and Carl Yastrzemski’s solo homer in the 9th on 6/30/79).
- Pedro Ciriaco drove in the winning run in each of the Sox 2 wins at New York, with a 9th-inning RBI triple on Saturday and a 10th-inning RBI single last night…According to Elias, Ciriaco is the 1st player with go-ahead RBI in the 9th inning or later in 2 straight games against the Yankees since the Angels Wally Joyner did it on 9/12-13/89 in Anaheim…Ciriaco is 11-for-22 (.500) with 6 RBI and 7 runs scored in his 5 career games vs. the Yankees, all coming this year with Boston.
VS. THE TIGERS: The Red Sox tonight open a 10-day, 10-game homestand, their longest of the season, with the start of a 3-game set with the Tigers…It marks the clubs’ last of 3 series this year with the Sox trailing 3-4 thus far in the season set…Boston has won 7 of its last 8 games at home vs. DET dating back to 7/31/10 and has taken all 6 series against the Tigers at Fenway since 2007, going 15-5 in those contests…The Red Sox own the best record in the American League against the Tigers since the start of the 2008 campaign at 22-11 (.666)…It is Boston’s 2nd-best mark against any AL club in that time after Minnesota (19-9, .679).
- Boston leads all American League teams with a 16-9 record (.640) against the AL Central division this season, compared to a 35-42 mark (.455) against the rest of baseball…The Sox top AL offenses with an average of 5.96 runs per game against AL Central clubs (149 R/25 G), 2nd-highest for any team against a division in its own league behind the Rangers vs. the AL East (7.19).
BACK ON TRACK: Tonight’s starter Clay Buchholz is 4-1 with a 2.47 ERA (16 ER/58.1 IP) over his last 8 starts, the 5th-best ERA in the AL since 5/27…He has gone at least 6.0 innings in all 8 starts in that span, the longest streak of his career.
DUCKS ON THE POND: Adrian Gonzalez leads the Majors with a .414 AVG (41-for-99) with runners in scoring position this season…He tops the AL with a .373 AVG (50-for-134) since 6/20, hitting safely in 29 of 33 games in that time…He has an Major League-best .558 clip (17-for-31) with RISP in that 33-game stretch.
