Jeff Grant: Thursday MLB Insider Report - 5/31

[Jeff Grant]

Wednesday MLB Recap
-Kansas City finished off a nine-game road trip with a 5-4 record, including wins in four of its last six games
-The Indians dropped to 4-11 against left-handed starters
-The Royals are a major-league worst 5-17 at home
-Oakland Athletics rank last in the majors with a .210 batting average. The Athletics are hitting .172 during their current eight-game skid
-The Twins finished 12-16 in May, after going 6-16 in April
-Cubs SP Ryan Dempster gave up six runs, all on home runs
-The Pirates have a .500 record despite scoring the fewest runs in the majors
-The Red Sox entered last night leading the majors with 24 home runs and 61 extra-base hits against left-handed pitching
-Marlins OF Giancarlo Stanton hit his 12th HR in May to tie the franchise record
-The Marlins lead the majors with 20 comeback victories, while going 21-8 in May, which is the best mark in the big leagues
-The Nationals finished 15-13 this month, their best May since moving back to Washington in 2005
-Seattle came into last night’s 21-8 win over Texas hitting .229, which ranked 13th out of 14th in the AL
-Rockies OF Carlos Gonzalez is 10 for 16 with five HRs and seven RBI over his last four games
-The Dodgers were the only MLB team that hadn’t lost more than two in a row before last night’s defeat
-Diamondbacks SP Ian Kennedy extended his win streak against the Giants to five straight starts
-Kennedy has allowed three or fewer runs in 11 of his 12 starts against San Francisco

[Jeff Grant]

Detroit Tigers at Boston Red Sox
Tigers starting pitcher Max Scherzer (4-3, 5.67 ERA) comes in on a personal three-game win streak, while the club has tallied four consecutive wins with him on the mound. He will need to try and keep the ball down against one of the best offensive teams in baseball, allowing 10 home runs on the year, including at least one in six straight starts. In four career games versus the Red Sox, Scherzer has gone 0-2 with an 11.81 ERA, giving up seven runs and eight hits in 2.2 frames in a no-decision effort on April 8.

Josh Beckett (4-4, 4.15 ERA) has certainly turned things around over his last three outings, surrendered three earned runs 15 hits over 21.2 combined innings, leading to three Red Sox’ victories. The 32-year-old kept the ball in the park in all three of those efforts, but did serve up five big flies in a 10-0 road loss to the Tigers on April 7. Beckett will be making his eighth lifetime appearance versus the Tigers, bringing in an even 3-3 record and 3.65 ERA, allowing two earned runs or less in five of his last six outings in the series.

Ready my entire preview and MLB pick on this high-profile contest