Red Sox face Giants again, seek to extend win streak

The Boston Red Sox will attempt to win their fourth straight game Wednesday night when they face the visiting San Francisco Giants in the second contest of a three-game series.

Boston extended its winning streak by beating San Francisco 4-0 on Tuesday. It was Boston's sixth shutout of the season after the team recorded five such wins in 2023.

The Red Sox finished April with a 2.59 team ERA, the lowest in the major leagues. Boston's starting pitchers had a 2.00 ERA in April.

"Consistency (from the starting pitchers) is what we were looking for, and since we got to (spring training), that's what I see," Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. "They've done an amazing job, getting better, working hard to hone their craft to perform. So far it's been solid, and I don't think it's a fluke. I do believe this is what we're going to be throughout the season. When you pitch, you have a chance to win a lot of ballgames.

"Hopefully win the series (Wednesday) and keep it rolling."

The Giants were limited to four hits in Tuesday's loss, all of which were singles. Boston starter Cooper Criswell held San Francisco to two hits before he exited the mound after the fifth inning. He retired the first 10 batters he faced.

"You only get four hits, and two of them are in the last inning, so it doesn't look great," San Francisco manager Bob Melvin said. "But (Criswell's) stuff was really good, and we were kind of caught in between which side of the place we were looking for pitches."

San Francisco's Logan Webb entered Tuesday's game with a 19-inning scoreless streak but allowed four runs on nine hits and walked three in 3 2/3 innings.

"I wouldn't say it was his best command," Melvin said. "It's really odd when you see something like that. At the end of the day, he still has a 2.98 ERA after a game like that."

Right-hander Kutter Crawford (1-1, 1.35 ERA) is listed as Boston's probable starting pitcher for Wednesday's game. San Francisco has not announced its starter.

In his most recent outing, Crawford took the loss in Friday's 7-1 defeat to the Chicago Cubs. He gave up four runs (three earned) and a season-high 10 hits in six innings. It's the only time he's allowed more than one run in his six starts this season.

Crawford's only career appearance against the Giants came last July, when he earned the win after limiting them to one run and three hits in 5 2/3 innings of Boston's 3-2 victory. He walked one and struck out seven.

Boston's Masataka Yoshida was not in the lineup Tuesday because of an injury to his left hand. Yoshida suffered the injury during his first at-bat in Sunday's victory over the Cubs.

"He saw a hand specialist, and he's going to get an MRI (Wednesday)," Cora said. "So we'll know more."

Rob Refsnyder replaced Yoshida in the lineup Tuesday and collected two hits and two RBIs.

Red Sox first baseman Garrett Cooper left Tuesday's game after he was hit on the right wrist by a pitch in the fifth inning.

"He's OK," Cora said. "We'll know more (Wednesday), but we dodged a bullet on that one."