Baltimore Orioles vs. Boston Red Sox (7:10 pm ET, NESN)
Baltimore Orioles will try to level the series against Boston Red Sox in Game 2 (7:10 pm ET, NESN), on Saturday, at the Fenway Park, Boston, Massachusetts. The Orioles have a 24-55 home, 8-30 away record whereas the Red Sox have a 48-32 away, 28-16 home record. Boston leads the three game series by 1-0.
For the Boston Red Sox, the injuries keep mounting but so do the wins. Another victory appears probable, with Jon Lester on the mound against the Baltimore Orioles. Against major league-worst Baltimore, Lester seeks to improve to 12-0. With a 2.06 ERA in 14 career starts against the Orioles, Lester (9-3, 2.86 ERA) is 11-0, making him the only active pitcher with double-digit wins and no losses against any opponent.
To a disabled list, that includes five former All-Stars among its 10 players, the Red Sox added reliever Manny Delcarmen (forearm strain) and catcher Jason Varitek (broken foot) on Friday. After a 3-2 victory in Friday’s series opener, the Red Sox improved to a major league-best 29-12 since May 18. Boston will wake up July 4 in first place for the first time since beating New York in its season opener, if they win this contest and the Yankees lose to Toronto on Saturday afternoon.
“We’re in a good spot and that’s the good thing, losing a couple of guys, having to adjust with that and then move from there. There’s a reason we are where we’re at because we’ve had contributions from a lot of people”, said Varitek.
Daniel Nava is one such person. With 12 RBIs in 16 games, he has an unheralded 27-year-old rookie outfielder batting .304.
Since a season-high four-game win streak that appears to have been an aberration, Baltimore (24-55) has dropped two straight and three of four. For the Orioles in Friday’s loss, Nick Markakis’ solo homer was the only extra-base hit.
Jeremy Guthrie (3-9. 4.30) will be opposing Lester, which seems to be an unenviable task. Guthrie has lasted at least six in all 11 of his outings since the start of May and has dropped five straight decisions. In Sunday’s 4-3 victory over Washington, Guthrie allowed three runs over six innings, but did not get the decision. In 14 career appearances versus Boston, he is 1-6 with a 4.52 ERA.
