BOSTON - Thanks to a Game 1 loss, in which they were one-hit by five Tigers pitchers, the Red Sox head into Sunday night under pressure to avoid going down 0-2 when the series shifts to Detroit. Theres also that matter of Justin Verlander, who will start the third game for the Tigers. Given how he pitched in two starts Division Series starts against Oakland, the task will be a tall one for the Bostonians on Tuesday regardless of Sundays result. Lets digress, not get too far ahead of ourselves, and look at whats on tap in the immediate. The Red Sox had better take that approach because, before Verlander, theyre up against the presumptive favourite to win this years American League Cy Young award, Max Scherzer. GAME 2 PREVIEW: PITCHING MATCHUP: Tigers RHP Max Scherzer (Regular season: 21-3, 2.90, 0.970 WHIP; Playoffs: 2-0, 3.00, 1.111 WHIP) 2013 vs. Boston: 1-1, 2.57, 1.000 WHIP, 14K in 14 innings pitched. Scherzer on facing the Red Sox: "Well, theyre just a great team. They can grind ABs out, they dont chase a lot. They foul off pitches. Really, it all comes down to, you can mention all those things theyre very good at, it comes down to attacking the hitters and making sure Im working ahead in count. Ive got to be 1 2 before Im 2 1. All the simple things in pitching. If I dont do that, its going to make it extremely uphill battle for me. If I feel like Im working ahead in the count, I feel like I can be successful. And thats the recipe for success." Toughest matchup: David Ortiz, Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Jacoby Ellsbury have a history of success against Scherzer. Ortiz in 15 AB: .467/.556/.1.133, 3 HR, 1 2B, 6 RBI, 3 BB. Saltalamacchia in 12 AB: .417/.417/.667, 1 HR, 2 RBI. Ellsbury in 9 AB: .556/.667/1.000, 1 HR, 1 2B, 5 RBI, 3 BB. Interesting note: Scherzer, the 11th overall pick in the 2006 draft (Diamondbacks,) and teammates Austin Jackson and Phil Coke were acquired in the same three-way trade, from different clubs. The deal went down on December 8, 2009, with the centerpiece of the deal being the Yankees acquisition of Curtis Granderson from Detroit. Scherzer and reliever Daniel Schlereth were acquired by the Tigers from Arizona, while the Yankees shipped Jackson and Coke to Detroit. The Tigers sent Edwin Jackson to Arizona in the deal. The Diamondbacks also acquired Ian Kennedy from New York. Got all that? Red Sox RHP Clay Buchholz (Regular season: 12-1, 1.74, 1.025 WHIP; Playoffs: 0-0, 4.50, 1.667 WHIP) Did not face Detroit in 2013. Buchholz missed three months (June 9-September 9) with a neck injury. Toughest matchup: There is no Tiger whos faced Buchholz often and had significant success. Here are the numbers of the four Detroit players whove seen Buchholz the most. Torii Hunter (24 AB:) .167/.286/.250, 2 2B, 4 BB, 4K. Miguel Cabrera (21 AB:) .238/.320/.333, 2 2B, 3 RBI, 3 BB, 3 K. Austin Jackson (19 AB:) .263/.333/.526, 1 HR, 2 2B, 1 RBI, 2 BB, 4K. Jhonny Peralta (17 AB:) .294/.316/.412, 2 2B, 7 RBI, 4 K. Of the active players on the Tigers playoff roster, only Jackson and Andy Dirks (1) have hit home runs off Buchholz. LINEUP CONSIDERATIONS: Up 1-0 in the eighth inning of Game 1, Tigers manager Jim Leyland held his nose and replaced Miguel Cabrera with Ramon Santiago at third base. Its a tough decision to take your best hitter out of a close game but considering Cabreras groin issues, Leyland felt he had no choice. "I wasnt comfortable doing that, particularly in this ballpark with a 1 0 lead," said Leyland. "We know were handicapped a little bit because of our situation. I think the biggest key in that situation was the two guys that they had coming up to lead off that inning were Victorino and Pedroia. Both are excellent baseball players, both smart. Victorino could have dropped the bunt down on Miggy. Pedroia could have dropped a bunt on Miggy. We felt like that was the best way to go." GAME 2 PREDICTION: This is an absolute must-win for Boston. The Red Sox, with their scraggly beards and grind-it-out approach, will muster the will to bounce back from being one-hit. Buchholz and Scherzer pitch great games but the Red Sox prevail, 3-2, sending us to Detroit with the series even 1-1. Pirates Jerseys 2019 . The Reds will host the Los Angeles Dodgers tonight in the opener of a four-game series at Great American Ball Park, and the debut matchup will feature a pair of pitchers whose recent resumes have included a fair number of bases-clearing hits. Fake Pirates Jerseys . A knee to the thigh might have stung him the most, but his sixth straight double-double made up for the brief burst of pain. https://www.cheappiratesjerseys.us/. After two months of mediocrity, perhaps the Washington Nationals have turned the page. Strasburg struck out 11 in seven innings Wednesday night and the Nationals kept the Philadelphia Phillies bats quiet yet again in an 8-4, rain-interrupted win. Custom Pittsburgh Pirates Jerseys . In this weeks Leaf Report podcast, James Mirtle and Jonas Siegel debate whether Toronto can continue their shootout dominance and discuss what Dave Nonis game plan should be heading into the trade deadline. Pirates Jerseys China . Price was hurt at the start of Wednesdays practice after facing just one shot as the team worked on their power play. He left the ice in discomfort and appeared to be favouring his leg. A Habs source told TSNs John Lu that Price suffered the injury in Sochi and not before the Olympics.TUCSON, Ariz. -- Arizona raced out to a big lead and did not back off, hitting the accelerator instead. No way were the Wildcats going to let their biggest rival get even a sniff of a comeback. Top-ranked Arizona raced out to a big early lead and extended it with a strong start to the second half, rolling past rival Arizona State in a 91-68 rout Thursday night. "We tried to start out the game really well and made some shots and some stops on defence, then did the same thing in the second half," said Arizona guard Nick Johnson, who led the Wildcats with 17 points. "We didnt want to give them any false hope of trying to come back or anything." There wasnt much chance the way the Wildcats were playing. Arizona (18-0, 5-0 Pac-12) dominated the Sun Devils almost from the opening tip, turning missed shots and turnovers into points at the other end while building a 21-point lead in the first half. The Wildcats didnt let up, either, stretching the lead to extend the best start in school history. Arizona put seven players in double figures, shot 56 per cent and had 21 assists on 34 field goals to beat the Sun Devils for the sixth time in seven games. Aaron Gordon had 16 points, and Kaleb Tarczewski added 12 points and eight rebounds for the Wildcats. T.J. McConnell finished with 10 points, six assists and three steals. "No doubt about it, we have a group of guys that plays with a lot of energy, a lot of effort and we are willing to share the ball," Arizona coach Sean Miller said. Arizona State (13-5, 2-3) played without second-leading scorer Jermaine Marshall and had trouble with Arizonas size all night, shooting 34 per cent. Jahii Carson had 20 points and five assists, but struggled early and had at least four shots blocked. ASU centre Jordan Bachynski battled foul trouble in the first half and wasnt much of a factor when he was in the game, finishing with three points while mmissing all three of his shots.dddddddddddd. Bo Barnes added 13 points for the Sun Devils, who had 18 turnovers and seven assists. "You look at the results they are posting night in and night out, it wasnt a surprise, only a confirmation," Sun Devils coach Herb Sendek said of Arizona. "They are very well balanced and their size is a factor." Arizona has gotten off to the best start in school history behind its defence The Wildcats entered the game fourth nationally in scoring at 56 points per game, seventh in field goal percentage at 37 per cent and 13th in 3-point shooting at 28 per cent. Arizona State was already going to have a tough time against the long, athletic Wildcats and it certainly didnt help that Marshall was out after injuring his groin in practice this week. Revved up by the boisterous crowd, Arizona was at its defensive best early, contesting every shot, pass and dribble. Arizona State missed 15 of its first 17 shots and Carson had nowhere to go against Arizonas pressure -- particularly McConnell -- while missing his first five shots. After a jittery offensive start, the Wildcats started hitting from everywhere, racing out to a 21-point lead while making 14 of 28 shots. The Sun Devils started to shoot a little better late in the half, but had a hard time digging out of the hole, trailing 42-28 after shooting 6 of 26. Arizona kept rolling to start the second half, hitting five of its first eight shots to stretch the lead to 22. Gordon then scored on an alley-oop, Tarczewski threw down a dunk on a no-look pass from Gabe York and McConnell dropped in a 3-pointer, flashing three fingers to the fans across from the bench after putting the Wildcats up 59-38. "Those guys are ready to play every day," said Carson, who shot 7 of 19. "They have great leadership and are No. 1 in the country for a reason. They just have so many weapons." ' ' '