Red Sox vs Astros: Pitching Showdown

0:00It's May 1st. This is Boston Red Sox News today, AI-powered updates on your team. I'm Cory with the story. The Red Sox head into a 3-game series against the struggling Astros this weekend. Both teams hovering around 12 wins and 20 losses early, in the season. Boston sits at 12 and 19, while Houston's at 12 and 20 after an 8-game skid. The Sox desperately need these wins after dropping a series to the Blue Jays and getting swept by these same Astros back in March. Coming off that rough patch, Boston's dealing with Ace Garrett Crochet out for at least two weeks, so they've got to patch things together for about 15 days. To help, they're likely calling a big lefty Jake Bennett from the minors where he's dominated with a sub-1 ERA over 21 innings. He's been building up after Tommy John's surgery and working with the Sox pitching crew. Fans are buzzing about the pitching matchups that could swing this series. Friday at 7-10 PM on NESN Plus, it's Houston's Mike Burles with a 6-plus ERA against Boston's

1:02to-be-determined arm. Saturday at 4-10 PM, ET on NESN pits, Spencer Aragetti, who's been lights out at 2-ERA versus Connolly, early fresh off a strong win. Sunday at 1-35 PM ET on NESN gives the Sox their best shot with Ranger Suarez on the hill. He just threw 8 scorelists against Toronto and has 22 straight shut-out innings lately. Houston's lineup has popped from Jordan Alvarez, slashing 356 with 12 homers, but overall, they're sputtering. If Boston's bats wake up and the arms hold firm, they could snag a couple wins here and climb back toward 500 before Crochet returns, keeping. The playoffs hopes alive in this grind of a season.