Steve Merril's Sunday Night MLB Report (June 17)

Two of the oldest franchises in baseball meet in Wrigley Field on Sunday night as the Cubs host the Red Sox.

BOSTON BANGS AND BRUISES

It's been a rough season for the Red Sox with regards to injuries. Josh Beckett will miss his scheduled start on Sunday due to shoulder inflammation. Fellow starters John Lackey and Aaron Cook are out. Joining them on the disabled list are Cody Ross, Jacoby Ellsbury, Carl Crawford, and Andrew Bailey. That's a lot of salary sitting on the sidelines for Boston who is nowhere near 100% healthy.

INTERLEAGUE INTRIGUE

The Red Sox pointed to this series as the break they needed in the midst of a tough stretch of games, however things did not start well in a 3-0 shutout loss on Friday night. This is still the easiest series the Red Sox have faced recently as they just played Baltimore, Washington and Miami. Boston also has tough series on deck versus Miami, Atlanta, and Toronto in the coming weeks. The Cubs have also been struggling in interleague play this season, losing series versus Minnesota and Detroit.

SLUGFEST EXPECTED?

Franklin Morales will be making his first start since 2009 for Boston on Sunday night. He faced the Cubs back in 2008 in Coors Field, allowing three runs and eight hits in six innings. Morales has spent most of his time in the bullpen this season as the team's long reliever. The lefty is 0-1 with a 3.04 ERA in 23.2 innings pitched.

Meanwhile, Paul Maholm is back to his struggling ways for Chicago. He has allowed 10 runs and 20 hits in his last three games, sporting a 5.87 ERA and 1.57 WHIP during that span. He faced the Red Sox last season allowing one run and six hits in 5.1 innings. Maholm has allowed four runs or more in four of his last six starts. This came after a stretch where he allowed just three runs total over four starts and 25.1 innings.

HITTERS TO WATCH

Geovany Soto 3-for-3 vs. Morales Starlin Castro 1-for-2 vs. Morales Adrian Gonzalez 3-for-11 vs. Maholm Darnell McDonald 2-for-7 vs. Maholm

TRENDS TO WATCH

Boston is 4-10 in their last 14 Sunday games Boston is 4-1 in their last 5 interleague road games vs. a left-handed starter Chicago is 14-32 in their last 46 Sunday games Chicago is 4-1 in Maholm's last 5 home starts