The Red Sox and the Orioles will meet tonight to kick-start a four game series in Baltimore. The Sox are coming off of a good series against the Chicago White Sox, but will be missing All-Star second baseman Dustin Pedroia.
Starting on the mound for the Sox tonight will be Eduardo Rodriguez who has a team best ERA of 2.77. E-Rod and his defense will be supported by the recent explosive Boston offense. Pablo Sandoval returned from the DL earlier this week against Chicago and did his fair share at the plate going 3-4.
The Red Sox, who have been hitting well for most of the season, will have a chance to capitalize against the Orioles. Baltimore let up 8 and 4 runs to the AL East leading Yankees in their last two games.
The leader for the Red Sox offense this year has been, All-Star hopeful, Mookie Betts. Betts leads the team in several offensive categorize including home runs and RBIs. The team will lean on Betts heavily over the next few games without Pedroia, who has played consistently well for years.
Red Sox pitching has been inconsistent at best through this season, but as of late they have been on fire. It’s unknown if we’ll have the pleasure of seeing closer Craig Kimbrel take the mound tonight, but if we do you can almost guarantee a save and a win. Kimbrel has 15 saves on the season to go along with 45 strikeouts.
The Red Sox are two games behind the Yankees for the East. Baltimore went 2-1 against New York last week which helped to narrow the gap for Boston. The Red Sox success, or lack of success, against the Orioles could provide some insight for how the team will do next week when Boston and New York meet. The teams will meet for three games in New York. Over the next week the Sox will have the chance to pass the Yankees for 1st place in the AL East.
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