Boston Red Sox Philadelphia Phillies lineups: Garrett Richards’s last ride? – Over The Monster

The Red Sox return home on something called a “losing streak”—I had to look it up, and trust me when I say it stinks—to face the Phillies behind the seemingly rotation-imperiled Garrett Richards (7:10 p.m., NESN).

If there’s one thing the beat reporters seem sure about this week, it’s that Tanner Houck will be a part of the pitching staff, perhaps even in the rotation, after the All-Star break. If the Sox intend to stick with a five-man operation, this would almost certainly mean Richards, who has struggled even after his post-Spider Tack bottom-dwelling. This could be his last start for a while, and seems certain to be if he stinks up the joint. Unfortunately, that and “eh?” seem to be the two options when he’s on the mound, so hope for the latter, I guess?

Notoriously slow worker Vince Velasquez starts for the Phillies, so this one could take a while, especially if Richards biffs it, which we do not want but for which we are obviously prepared. At least it’s at home—I thought for sure we wouldn’t see Fenway before the break, but I don’t have a magnet calendar, so joke’s on me. Here are the lineups. I have no pithy comment about them.