The season series against Boston looks a little sunnier after last week, when the Orioles stormed into Fenway Park and swept a two-game series against the Red Sox to take a 5-4 advantage. To continue to pad their lead, though, they’ll need to flip this week’s momentum: the Orioles just dropped three of four to Houston this weekend, while Boston did the reverse to the Yankees, taking three of four in the Bronx.
It’s been a good month for the Red Sox, who fell to fourth in the AL East on July 10, but are now five games back of only division-leading Toronto, and hold the top wild-card spot over the Yankees and the Mariners. Boston’s hitting continues to be a strong point, with the fifth-best OPS in the majors. Their pitching has been solid, too, with an MLB fifth-best ERA, although looking at walks and hits allowed puts them in the middle of the pack. Maybe the Orioles can help Boston regress to the ERA mean and get some of those extra runners home.
That will require a good outing against a lefty opener, Brennan Bernardino (4-2, 2.93 in 49 games). If you haven’t heard much about Bernardino, don’t worry. This is just his first start, taking opener duties after the struggling Walker Buehler was moved to the bullpen. This team hasn’t seen much of him, either: Gunnar Henderson is 3-for-12 against the lefty. Jackson Holliday is 1-for-3. Ryan Mountcastle has one hit off Bernardino in two tries.
Meanwhile, it’s Tomoyuki Sugano’s (10-5, 3.97) turn up in the rotation. This feels like a good thing? After a hot August, it certainly looks like Sugano’s summer swoon (a combined 6.40 ERA in June-July) was the result of fatigue. Over his last four starts, the right hander has a 2.01 ERA, his best of any month this year. Last Tuesday, he saw this lineup in Boston, allowing just one run (unearned).
With a .333 average in 63 AB’s, the O’s’ Jeremiah Jackson keeps moving up in the lineup, and is batting second tonight, as the team tries to solve its lefty pitcher problem. Samuel Basallo is catching, and Luis Vázquez gets the start at third.