The Boston Red Sox are coming off of a series split against the Seattle Mariners to open their season, and they’re staying on the West Coast for three games against the Oakland Athletics at the Oakland Coliseum this week.
Alex Cora’s team is expected to trot out Tanner Houck, Brayan Bello and Nick Pivetta to pitch, while former Red Sox outfield and current Athletics manager Mark Kotsay is set to send Joe Boyle, Alex Wood and Ross Stripling to the mound.
Game 1
Houck is making his season debut on Monday after starting 21 games in 2023 and recording 5.01 ERA and 1.368 WHIP.
Houck has only ever faced two Athletics – Brent Rooker (0-for-3 with two strikeouts) and Abraham Toro (0-for-4 with one strikeout.
Boyle is also making his first start in 2024 after starting three games for the team last year and recording a 1.69 ERA and a 0.813 WHIP. He’s never faced any member of the Red Sox.
Game 2
Bello pitched for the Red Sox on Opening Day against the Mariners, tossing five innings of two-run ball while giving up five hits and striking out just two.
In his young career, he’s faced JJ Bleday (1-for-2 with a home run and two RBIs), Shea Langeliers (1-for-2), Nick Allen (0-for-2 with a strikeout) and Seth Brown (0-for-1 with a walk).
Wood was the Opening Day starter for Oakland against the Cleveland Guardians, and he got rocked, allowing six runs on seven hits in 3 1/3 innings.
The only history he has against any member of the Red Sox is facing Trevor Story, who is 6-for-23 against him (.261) with a home run and five RBIs.
Game 3
Pivetta, after going back and forth between the rotation and the bullpen last year, started Boston’s second game of 2024, tossing six innings and allowing just three hits and one run against the Mariners. Unfortunately, he was handed the loss.
He’s faced nine different members of Oakland’s roster, but only Brown (1-for-13 with a home run), Langeliers (1-for-4) and J.D. Davis (2-for-3).
Stripling also got knocked around a bit in his first appearance of the year, allowing four earned runs on seven hits and two walks over five innings.
He also has a history with six batters for Boston. However, only Story (5-for-14 with two home runs), Jarren Durran (2-for-3 with a home run) and Rafael Devers (8-for-22) have hits against him.
