The 41-53 Baltimore Orioles head to Boston to face the 55-39 Boston RedSox over the weekend.
After being swept in NY, the O’s have lost 3 games in a row, and seen their road-record fall to 15-32.
Boston has lost 5 games in a row, to fall 2.5 games behind NY. At Fenway, the Redsox are 31-14.
These teams have faced off 7 times so far in 2009, with Boston winning 6 games.
The pitching match-ups are:
7/24 Bergesen vs. Penny
7/25 Guthrie vs. Lester
7/26 Hernandez vs. Smoltz
Penny faced the O’s in April, and was touched-up for 8 runs in 3 innings of work. For the season, Penny has allowed 118 hits, 11 homers, 30 walks, with 65 k’s in 98.2 innings.
Bergesen gets his 2nd start vs. the RedSox and first in Boston tonight. On July 1st, Bergesen dominated Boston over 8 innings, allowing just 1 run.
Guthrie missed Boston in the beginning of July, and was unable to hold the lead against Penny in April. Guthrie will be looking to build off of his last-start, where he was in complete control of Chicago.
Lester has pitched 14 scoreless innings against the Birds, allowing just 9 hits, 2 walks, with 17 k’s.
Smoltz has had his usual strong control since coming off the DL, but the overall results have been inconsistent. In his last-start, Texas homered 3 times.
Hernandez has made 3 consecutive starts over 6 innings. He also has a streak of 4 consecutive starts with at-least 2 walks, and 1 homer allowed. He was able to get out of trouble in the 1st inning in NY, and turn-in an outing that kept the O’s in the game. You would like to see him have similar results in Fenway.
Boston completed a trade this week for LaRoche which augments their bench.
Lowrie returned from the DL on the 18th, and will get regular starting opportunities at SS, now that Lugo has also been traded.
Pedroia has no extra-base hits since the All-star break, and sees his OPS currently at .800.
Ellsbury continues to fail to live up to expectations, as he has a .719 OPS, after a .729 OPS season in 2008.
Varitek appears revived as he matched his 2008 production, in roughly 60% of the total at-bats.
Bay has been cold, with only 5 XBH’s for July. At the other-end of the spectrum, Youkilis continues to hit, and has 4 XBH’s since the All-star break.
Papelbon has converted 5 straight saves, since his blown save June 30th at Oriole Park.
After losing 5 games in a row, and having all day yesterday to think about that – I expect Boston to play with a lot of intensity during this series. Coming home to Fenway helps them as well. If the O’s want to avoid a long weekend, they need to take Game 1 tonight.
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Chris Stoner founded Baltimore Sports and Life in 2009. He has appeared as a radio guest with 1090 WBAL, 105.7 The Fan, CBS 1300, Q1370, WOYK 1350, WKAV 1400, and WNST 1570. He has also been interviewed by The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore Business Journal, and PressBox (TV). As Owner, his responsibilities include serving as the Managing Editor, Publicist, & Sales Director.