BOSTON -- Steven Wright hopes his knuckleball wakes up before Tampa Bay's hitters do when the Boston Red Sox host the Rays in the annual Patriots Day game on Monday morning at Fenway Park.
Wright (0-1, 13.50 ERA) served up a career-worst four homers and eight runs in 1 1/3 innings of a 12-5 loss to Baltimore last Monday for Boston, which emerged with a 7-5 win Sunday against Tampa Bay.
The 32-year-old right-hander summed up the worst start of his career succinctly: "It was terrible," Wright said.
Red Sox manager John Farrell said, "The maintenance for a knuckleballer is to try and deaden spin, and that's where the focus and emphasis has been.