BOSTON — After sweeping three games from one potential

postseason opponent Andrew McCutchen Jersey , the Boston Red Sox host another when the Houston Astros invade Fenway Park for three games this weekend.David Price, 4-0 with a 1.62 ERA in seven starts since the All-Star break, returns from a one-game absence with a wrist contusion to pitch the series opener for Boston against 13-game winner Gerrit Cole as two teams go at it for the second time this season.From May 31 to June 3, the teams played four games in Houston — the Astros winning the first two before the Red Sox rebounded with two wins.Article continues below ...Now they come in with the Astros having won 12 of their last 15 games and leading the American League West by 3 1/2 games. The Red Sox, who swept three games in their interleague series in Atlanta this week, capped by a wild 9-8 victory Wednesday – are 9 1/2 games ahead in the East.The Red Sox, playing a wacky lineup Wednesday as Mookie Betts, J.D. Martinez and Xander Bogaerts rested, trailed the Braves 7-1, scored six in the eighth, fell behind again and then got a two-run homer from Brandon Phillips — capping his first game with his new team.“We were all in at one point, like here we go,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said after the game. “It was fun. Honestly, that was the most fun I’ve had all season, watching the last few innings.“They could’ve folded and said, ‘you know what let’s go home. It’s been a productive road trip. People are talking about leads and where we are in the standings and all that. So whatever http://www.giantsfanproshop.com/authentic-evan-longoria-jersey , let’s go home, enjoy the off day and we get Houston on Friday.’ But there was no sense of that. Everybody was pulling for each other. I pinch hit for a lot of guys and nobody was upset.”The win was Boston’s 97th of the season, the seventh time the franchise has won at least 97. They need only nine wins to break the 1912 team record of 105.The Astros just finished a 7-3 homestand with five straight wins, capped by a three-game sweep of the Minnesota Twins as Alex Bregman continued his torrid hitting. The third baseman has reached base in 33 straight games, four shy of Lance Berkman’s club record.“He’s putting up so many quality at-bats, one after another,” manager AJ Hinch said. “It’s hard to expect it at this level because it’s not as easy as these guys make it look sometimes, but he’s getting great pitches to hit and not missing them, and doing damage.”Price is 14-6 with a 3.60 ERA coming in. Since the break, he has an 0.92 WHIP and has walked seven while striking out 43 in 44 1/3 innings.The left-hander defeated the Astros on June 2 in Houston and is is 6-2 with a 2.67 ERA in 13 games (nine starts) counting postseason against Houston.Bregman is 2-for-5 (.400) against Price, Brian McCann is 11-for-32 (.344) with three home runs and Jose Altuve 8-for-22 (.364). On the flip side, Josh Reddick is 0-for-9, Martin Maldonado 3-for-13 (.231) and George Springer 5-for-21 (.238).Cole is 13-5 with a 2.86 ERA in his first season in Houston. He defeated the Red Sox with a quality start on June 1 and is 2-1 with a 4.74 ERA in three career starts against Boston.Phillips is 11-for-25 (.440) with a homer and J.D. Martinez 3-for-9 (.333) against Cole, and Bogaerts is 0-for-8, Ian Kinsler 2-for-22 (.091) and Mitch Moreland 1-for-8 (.125).The Astros didn’t have a starter listed for Saturday’s game, but Charlie Morton (13-3 Gregor Blanco Jersey , 3.15 ERA) is expected to come off the disabled list to face Eduardo Rodriguez (12-3).Morton threw a bullpen session Tuesday and was on target to return.“Unless something unforeseen happens, he’s on track to be the starting pitcher,” Hinch said Wednesday. The best shortstop in baseball is willing to make a long-term deal if the Indians can come up with the right number"If Twitter activity is any indication, Francisco Lindor is sitting around with a bunch of media members today answer questions today. And if his answers are any indication... you might want to enjoy the next three years of him in Cleveland. I don’t want anything taken out of context or misconstrued, so here is Lindor’s full comment regarding a potential long-term extension with the Tribe via The Athletic’s Zack Meisel: I’m not going to read into the fact that he said he loves the city of Cleveland and everything about Cleveland but didn’t mention that he loves playing for the Indians by name. That would be irresponsible. Instead, let’s focus on what he did say. It’s hard to imagine a more picture perfect response to extension talks. He put 100 percent of the onus on the Indians to come through for fans and bring Lindor back in the nicest, most Francisco Lindor way possible. He’s made it clear that he loves Cleveland (he could be just saying that, of course) and has came out and said he’s waiting for the right number from the Indians. He’s just going to do what he can and play baseball and keep being an MVP caliber player.Lindor, to be frank, has the Indians over a barrel, and it’s hard to blame him for getting everything he can out of them. When they tried to sign him to a seven-year, $100 million deal in 2017, that was likely their last shot to get any kind of young player discount. At the time, Frankie was only their starting shortstop in the World Series and amassed 9.4 WAR in 257 games. Now he’s regarded as the best shortstop in baseball, and right in the conversation for the best player in all of baseball.In the last three seasons, only Mike Trout http://www.giantsfanproshop.com/authentic-evan-longoria-jersey , Mookie Betts, Jose Altuve, and Jose Ramirez have more total FanGraphs WAR than Lindor’s 18.8, and the next closest shortstop is Manny Machado with 15.1. Even the cold-hearted, pessimistic Steamer projects have him at 6.5 WAR next season, third in the league behind Trout and Betts. To further muck up the whole process, Lindor exits his third year of arbitration and becomes a free agent following the 2021 season — the same year the current CBA expires. The same CBA that is causing big-name free agents like Bryce Harper and Manny Machado headaches that could potentially be fixed after that season rolls around. Lindor taking an extension now is negotiating under the current CBA that is absolutely screwing players out of big paydays. In essence, both Lindor and the Indians are playing chicken with each other as well as that 2021 deadline. Do the Indians do whatever they can to lock up Lindor now before a more player-friendly CBA is in place? Or do they wait it out and hope that things point in the other direction and Lindor blinks in the face of a more oppressive system? Mild calf strain or not, there’s no coming back from that hometown discount the Indians might have had in 2017. We have no way of knowing if that $100 million offer was real, and if it was, how much the Indians were off from signing Lindor. If it turns out the difference might have been only a few million, the Indians are going to look real silly in 2022.