After bouncing back nicely in Cleveland and taking two of three against the Indians, the Orioles are set to head back home and kick off a ten-game home stand at Camden Yards.
The first order of business comes in the form of battling the O’s long-time arch rival, The Boston Red Sox, in a four-game set before the Yankees come to town in what will ultimately be a war for sole possession of first place in the AL East as we roll into June.
The Orioles (28-20) are set to host the Red Sox currently holding second place in the division and stand just one game behind Boston for first place. The O’s will also look to improve upon their sparkling 18-10 record at home and their impressive 9-5 record against the AL East.
The O’s latest nine-game road trip was a complete mixed bag of results, but after grinding out two wins and banking another series victory versus the red-hot Indians, the O’s will surely be in high spirits as they kick off their home stand in front of the Orioles faithful.
The Red Sox (30-20) have gotten off to an excellent start to the season, largely due to their dynamic offense paving the way to the tune of almost six runs per game. Boston comes into Baltimore boasting a 12-10 record away from Fenway Park, but is also sub-.500 on the year versus AL East foes at 10-11 so far in the 2016 campaign.
Let’s take a glance at the probable starters:
Tyler Wilson (2-3, 3.80 ERA) is set to take on knuckleballer Steven Wright (4-4, 2.52 ERA) in the series opener on Memorial Day.
Wilson, 26, will make his first career start against the ‘Sox but was impressive against them in a relief appearance at Fenway earlier in the campaign, allowing two hits over three shutout innings with two strikeouts in a 4-2 loss on April 13th.
Wilson will be looking to get back to his previous form before his last two starts, in which the Lynchburg native has went 0-2 with a 6.00 ERA over 12.0 innings with five walks to seven strikeouts.
Wright, 31, has been stellar for the ‘Sox this season, and it looks like Boston may have finally found their next Tim Wakefield.
The California native and University of Hawaii alum has never started versus Baltimore in his career but has made two appearances against the O’s out of the bullpen, allowing one run on four hits over 5.2 innings with three walks and eight punch-outs.
Kevin Gausman (0-2, 3.24 ERA) will take the mound against former premier O’s prospect Eduardo Rodriguez (0-0, 0.00 ERA) on Tuesday.
Gausman has yet to notch a tally in the win column this season, but we all know that’s not on him. Hopefully the 25-year-old can finally get win number one against the Red Sox, as he has posted a 2-1 record with a 3.12 ERA and 1.09 WHIP in ten games (five starts) versus Boston.
In four games (two starts) against the ‘Sox last season, the LSU alum went 1-1 with a 4.46 ERA over 14.1 innings with 14 strikeouts.
Rodriguez will be making his season debut versus his former club after suffering a right patellar subluxation back in February. The 23-year-old will be looking to pick up where he left off in 2015 after posting a 10-6 record with a solid 3.85 ERA during his rookie campaign.
In three starts versus Baltimore last season, the Venezuelan southpaw went 0-2 with a 4.20 ERA over 15.0 innings with 21 K’s.
Mike Wright (2-3, 5.05 ERA) is set to toe the rubber against former St. Louis Cardinal Joe Kelly (2-0, 6.30 ERA) on Wednesday.
Wright, 26, has posted a 1-1 record in two starts versus Boston in his young career, but boasts a woeful 11.25 ERA against the ‘Sox. In his last start versus them on April 12th, the East Carolina alum allowed four runs on five hits over five innings of work with one walk and four strikeouts in the 9-5 O’s victory.
Kelly has a mixed track record versus the O’s in his career, going 2-2 with a 5.10 ERA over six starts. In his last start versus the Orioles on April 13th, the Anaheim native and University of California alum allowed two runs on seven hits over five innings with five walks and six Ks in the Red Sox 4-2 victory.
The struggling Ubaldo Jimenez (2-6, 6.36 ERA) is set to take on Red Sox stud sinkerballer Rick Porcello (7-2, 3.68 ERA) in the series finale on Thursday.
Jimenez’s woes have been well-documented as of late and the 32-year-old Dominican will head into his next bout with a 0-3 record with a dreadful 11.57 ERA over his last three outings. While I wish for the best, I don’t see things getting significantly better for Jimenez versus the ‘Sox as he’s posted a 2-5 record with a horrid 7.25 ERA over 12 starts against Boston in his career.
In his last start versus the Red Sox on April 13th, Jimenez allowed four runs on six hits over five innings with four walks and five K’s in the O’s 4-2 loss.
Porcello seems to have shaken off his sketchy 2015 campaign by impressing in almost every start to date while becoming the Red Sox de-facto ace this season.
However, the 27-year-old has had a rough go of things in the past against the Birds and comes into the series boasting a 3-7 record with a 5.45 ERA versus Baltimore in his career. The New Jersey native will be looking to forget his trio of outings against the O’s last season, in which he went 0-2 and allowed 17 runs on 28 hits over 16.1 innings, resulting in a bloated 9.50 ERA.
This four-game division battle will feature two of the AL’s best offensive ball clubs. The Orioles head back to Camden ranked 7th in the AL in runs per game (4.45), 5th in batting average (.259), 3rd in OBP (.323) and 2nd in HR (69).
But silencing the Red Sox highly potent and explosive offensive attack will be a tough task over four games. Boston heads into Baltimore as the highest-scoring team in the AL at 5.9 runs per game while ranking 7th in HR (58), 4th in stolen bases (35) and also 1st in batting average (.295) and OBP (.359).
I know this is the last thing O’s fans want to hear, but almost the entire Red Sox line-up is in sparkling form heading into Camden. The familiar faces of nine-time All-Star and six-time Silver Slugger David Ortiz (.339, 23 2B, 13 HR, 46 RBI), four-time All-Star 2B Dustin Pedroia (.308, 14 2B, 6 HR, 24 RBI) and two-time All-Star and Silver Slugger Hanley Ramirez (.296, 9 2B, 4 HR, 31 RBI) are up to their usual tricks, but the Red Sox also have a trio of young guns that are lighting it up at the moment.
After bursting onto the scene last year, 26-year-old 3B Travis Shaw (.299, 16 2B, 7 HR, 35 RBI) has been excellent in the early goings of 2016, while 23-year-old star shortstop Xander Bogaerts (.346, 16 2B, 6 HR, 28 RBI, 7 SB) has put in his claim for being one of the best players in the world right now. And then there’s 26-year-old stud centerfielder Jackie Bradley Jr (.333, 13 2B, 4 3B, 8 HR, 36 RBI) who’s fresh off of a 29-game hit streak.
Simply put, these ‘Sox make a lot of noise. And the O’s pitching staff must be on their A++ game for the O’s to have a shot at banking the series in the win column.
After taking two of three against the Red Sox at Fenway Park back in April during the first meeting between their annual foes, the O’s will look to build upon their glittering 48-30 record versus Boston since the start of the 2012 season.
And here’s to getting the better of them again this time around!
If the O’s pull off the series victory against their long-loathed rivals, they will be back in first place as we approach the 1/3 mark of the campaign.
That should be enough of an incentive for our Birds…We already know they will “protect this house” with the best of them.
Bring on the ‘Sox!
