Boston Red Sox (24-14) vs. Kansas City Royals (18-19) Game 38 Open Thread

The baseball world was laughing at Red Sox General Manager Ben Cherington a year ago when he acquired pitcher Rick Porcello from Detroit and handed him a four-year, $80 million deal. The laughed harder when Porcello posted a 4.92 ERA last year. Those laughs have subsided a bit this year (overshadowed by laughter about the Pablo Sandoval contract?) Porcello has posted a 3.11 ERA with over a strikeout per inning in his first seven starts. The ground ball pitcher has struggled against the Royals in his career with a 4.58 ERA in 20 starts, mostly from his days with the Tigers.

The Royals counter with Yordano Ventura, who may or may not be an injury risk with his high walk rates. The Royals are hoping Kendrys Morales is fixed with his game-winning home run on Sunday, because they'll need offense to keep up with the Red Sox. Boston leads the league in runs scored with over six per game, 2.5 more than the Royals, who are dead last.

"Why do the Red Sox have an All-Star hitting ninth?"

-Ned Yost, probably

#RedSox 5/17 Lineup at KC:

Betts RF
Pedroia 2B
Bogaerts SS
Ortiz DH
Ramirez 1B
Shaw 3B
Bradley Jr. CF
Vazquez C
Holt LF
Porcello RHP

— Boston Red Sox (@RedSox) May 17, 2016

.@YordanoVentura leads #Royals in the series opener with Red Sox at 7:15 CT. https://t.co/NDsIs4pDnj #ForeverRoyal pic.twitter.com/4uys3zf4qC

— #VoteRoyals (@Royals) May 17, 2016