The Baltimore Orioles will travel to Fenway Park for a brief one-game series against the Boston Red Sox.
If someone had told us before the start of the season that the Orioles will be right in the race for a Wild Card berth and the Red Sox would sit at the bottom of their division at this point in the season, we'd never believed it.
But that's how wildly opposite this season has been for two teams that started off the year with completely different aspirations.
Orioles Keep Rising
The most surprising and profitable team in Major League Baseball, the Orioles come to this game after taking two out of three from the Toronto Blue Jays at Camden Yards.
They've won 34 of their past 51 games, and not even trading away Trey Mancini has been enough to hold them down, although manager Brandon Hyde doesn't want to get too carried away with his young team's newfound success.
Can The Red Sox Turn Things Around?
The Red Sox have been one of the most disappointing teams in the Majors this season, but they decided to hold on to their stars past the trade deadline and could still get hot when it matters the most.
They sit five games out of the Wild Card picture, so beating a divisional rival is a must for Alex Cora's side entering this game.
Key Injuries, Stats, And Trends
The Boston Red Sox are quite banged up ahead of this game. They'll still be without Eric Hosmer, Trevor Story, and Kike Hernández, not to mention all the injuries in their pitching staff.
For the Baltimore Orioles, Jonathan Arauz will be the only position player out with an injury.
When it comes to trends, it's worth noting that the Orioles are 22-6 in their last 28 games on grass, and 20-6 in their last 26 vs. a team with a losing record. On the other hand, the Red Sox are 1-5 in their last six home games vs. a right-handed starter.
Also, the Over is 3-0-1 in Orioles' last four overall, and 4-0 in Red Sox's last four games vs. a right-handed starter.
Picks For Orioles At Red Sox
Dean Kremer surely isn't happy about having last night's start postponed. He's 0-2 with an 11.74 ERA and 2.087 WHIP against the Red Sox per his career and could be in for a tough time at Fenway Park.
But the Red Sox's bullpen has been so shaky this season that not even the red-hot Josh Winckowski (5-5, 4.68) would be reason enough to back them up tonight. Instead, maybe we should lean towards the over at 9.5 runs.
]]>The Inquisitr
