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Athletics-Red Sox Preview

Jul 5, 2009 - 11:38 PM By DAN PIERINGER STATS Writer

Oakland (33-46) at Boston (48-32), 7:10 p.m. EDT

John Smoltz was staked to a seemingly insurmountable lead in his last start, but a lengthy rain delay and a huge comeback prevented him from getting his first win in more than 14 months.

A matchup with the lowly Oakland Athletics could help him finally end that drought.

Smoltz tries again for his first win with the Boston Red Sox as he makes his home debut Monday night against the Athletics in the opener of a three-game series between teams in very different spots in the AL standings.

Smoltz (0-1, 6.00 ERA) appeared to be well on his way to his 211th career victory Tuesday when Boston (49-32) took a 9-1 lead in the fourth inning at Baltimore. Then a 71-minute rain delay ended the right-hander's night after four innings and the Orioles rallied for an 11-10 victory with the biggest comeback in franchise history.

Smoltz, in his first season with Boston following a 20-year career with Atlanta, has been stuck on 210 wins since beating Florida on April 17, 2008. Shoulder surgery ended his campaign after just two more starts, and the 42-year-old didn't pitch in the majors again until his Red Sox debut June 25.

Smoltz is 1-0 with a save and a 2.61 ERA in three career games against Oakland. In his only start against the Athletics on June 11, 2005, he gave up three runs and five hits in a complete-game victory.

A's outfielder Matt Holliday is 6 for 16 (.375) with a home run, three doubles and five strikeouts against Smoltz.

Holliday hit a tiebreaking single in the fifth inning Sunday and Oakland (34-46) went on to beat Cleveland 5-2 to avoid a three-game sweep. The A's are 4-9 since they last won consecutive games June 19 and 20.

The Red Sox also managed to avoid a sweep Sunday, defeating Seattle 8-4 behind a home run, two RBIs and two runs scored from David Ortiz. Ortiz, who was hitting .185 with one homer at the end of May, is batting .303 with eight homers since the start of June.

"It's nice to see David feel good about himself, where he feels good enough to commit like that," manager Terry Francona said.

Ortiz is 7 for 47 (.149) with two home runs and 11 strikeouts in 13 games against Oakland since the start of the 2008 season. He's hitless with a strikeout in three at-bats against Monday's starter Brett Anderson (4-7, 5.45).

Anderson, a rookie left-hander, held Detroit to one run and four hits while striking out a season-high seven in 5 1-3 innings of a 7-1 victory last Monday.

"He's got a really good arm, a power arm," Tigers manager Jim Leyland told the Athletics' official Web site. "He was effectively wild. You don't see many left-handers like him. He was very good. He was very impressive."

Anderson allowed two runs and five hits over seven innings in his only previous start against Boston on April 15, but he still suffered an 8-2 defeat as the Red Sox salvaged one win in their three-game set in Oakland.

Boston is near the top of the AL with a .278 batting average against lefties.