Major League Baseball

How to win $1,000 on Red Sox vs. Phillies for free

Updated May. 22, 2021 7:14 p.m. ET

By Kevin Cooney
Special to FOX Sports

On the list of passionate sports cities in America, there are few equal to Boston and Philadelphia.

The history between the two towns that Benjamin Franklin called home has been rich and illustrious over the years, ranging from Wilt Chamberlain vs. Bill Russell, the Broad Street Bullies vs. the Big Bad Bruins and Nick Foles vs. Tom Brady, highlighted by the Philly Special in Super Bowl LII.

The Red Sox and Phillies don’t have that history, per se – the only World Series clash between the two was Boston’s five-game victory over the Phils in the 1915 Fall Classic, with a very young Babe Ruth on the roster. However, it nonetheless has become a major event whenever one team – and its traveling fan base – heads up or down on Amtrak for an interleague set.

This weekend sees the American League East-leading Red Sox head to Philadelphia to take on the Phils, who are beat up but still in the middle of the National League East race. It should be a fun weekend, and it will take center stage with Saturday’s Game of the Week (7 p.m. ET, FOX). Boston will send Nathan Eovaldi to the mound, and the Phillies will start Spencer Howard, who is a talented young pitcher but has been on an innings limit in each start.

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In that spirit, here are six things you should know about the two sides heading into the weekend.

1. Road trippin’

One of the reasons the Red Sox have been near the top of the AL East standings is how well they have done away from Fenway Park in the early going. Boston is 14-6 on the road so far this season. Its .759 OPS coming into Friday was fourth in baseball on the road. Red Sox pitchers were sporting a 3.68 ERA on the road as well. In just about every major road category, Boston was top-10.

2. Stern with Howard

Spencer Howard has been on a pretty strict innings limit for Philadelphia because of his checkered injury history, but the Phils stretched him out as a starter in Triple-A the past few weeks, and he will get his first start of the season at the major-league level on Saturday. However, don’t be surprised to see him capped at four innings and Chase Anderson ending up as the long bridge guy to the bullpen in the late innings.

3. Late-inning punch

The Red Sox and Phillies are both decent in late-inning situations – Philadelphia is 11th in OPS from the seventh inning onward (.695), and the Red Sox are 13th (.686). How they do it is different: The Red Sox have 17 homers from the seventh inning forward (12th in baseball), while the Phillies have only nine, tied for 27th.

4. The JDX connection

In a time when offense in MLB has been woefully down – has anyone thrown a no-hitter today? – Boston’s two biggest bats in J.D. Martinez and Xander Bogaerts have been relentless. Bogaerts entered Friday hitting .344, while Martinez sported a .331 average and 12 homers. It was a formula that carried Boston to a World Series in 2018. The Sox are hoping to double down on that again.

5. Cracked bells

Bryce Harper has been hit in the face. J.T. Realmuto went on the injured list Friday with a sore hand. Archie Bradley – a stabilizing force in the Philadelphia bullpen – just returned from a multiweek injury stretch. The Phillies have a number of injury issues, on top of defensive issues and a lineup that’s inconsistent. In other words, the idea that they are still hanging in there should be viewed as either a mirage or a warning sign to the rest of the NL East that injuries haven't buried this team yet.

6. The Cora factor

One of the people who has to be front and center in any Red Sox discussion is Alex Cora, the manager who led the team to the ’18 World Series title but was let go before a last-place finish in ’20 because of his role in the Astros sign-stealing scandal. Now Cora is back, and the Red Sox are back in contention. He has always been viewed as a good manager. This, however, appears to be his finest work to date.

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