Guardians look to stay hot in doubleheader vs. Red Sox

Following a successful series against the leaders of the American League East, the Cleveland Guardians will take aim at the other storied franchise in that division.

After rain postponed their series opener on Friday, the Guardians and visiting Boston Red Sox will play a split doubleheader on Saturday.

Cleveland extended its winning streak to five games by winning the first two contests of its series against the New York Yankees before falling 5-1 on Wednesday.

“Obviously, we want to win every single day,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said.

Cleveland is 11-4 after losing six of its first nine games of the season. The Guardians have won seven of the last nine meetings against the Red Sox.

However, Boston’s scheduled Game 1 starter, right-hander Tanner Houck (0-2, 7.66 ERA), is 1-2 with a 2.37 ERA in nine career appearances (four starts) versus Cleveland.

Guardians star Jose Ramirez is 14-for-30 with five homers and 11 RBIs in his last seven home games against Boston. He is 2-for-13 against Houck, but one of those hits left the park.

After being roughed up for 12 runs (11 earned) and 10 hits over 2 1/3 innings at Tampa Bay on April 14, Houck yielded only a two-run homer in the first inning, two other hits with two walks and seven strikeouts over six frames of Boston’s 8-4 loss to the Chicago White Sox on Sunday.

“Slowly just working your way through it and showing up each and every day with a good attitude, chipping away at it, is kind of the recipe for success,” Houck said.

The veteran will try to help Boston get back on track from dropping the final two contests of a three-game home set versus Seattle. Alex Bregman homered with two RBIs and had half of the team’s four hits in Thursday’s 4-3 loss.

Bregman is 7-for-14 with five RBIs in the last four games. He is batting .320 this season.

“He’s in a good spot. A great start,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said.

In the nightcap on Saturday, the Red Sox will turn to Walker Buehler (3-1, 4.23 ERA), who allowed nine runs and 14 hits — including three homers — over 9 1/3 innings while splitting his first two starts as a member of the Red Sox. But he’s 2-0 with a 1.96 ERA in three starts since that rough opening.

The right-hander gave up three walks for a second straight start Monday against the Chicago White Sox on Patriots’ Day, but he permitted only four hits and a run while striking out nine in a season-high seven innings of a 4-2 victory.

Buehler has never faced the Guardians, who will start Ben Lively (1-2, 3.86 ERA) in Game 1. The right-hander yielded four hits and a walk through 5 1/3 innings of last Saturday’s 3-0 victory at Pittsburgh.

“That was Ben at his best,” Vogt said.

Lively usually has been at his best versus Boston, going 1-1 with a 2.25 ERA in four career starts.

Boston star Rafael Devers is 0-for-15 over the last five games overall and 0-for-5 with two strikeouts versus Lively.

Touted prospect Doug Nikhazy is slated to make his major league debut while starting Game 2 for Cleveland. A second-round pick in 2021, the left-hander was 1-0 with a 3.44 ERA and fanned 22 in four 2025 starts for Triple-A Columbus.

–Field Level Media