The Red Sox have won 13 straight. The Baltimore Orioles are on a 7-game winning streak. The next longest winning streak in MLB is 3 games by the Milwaukee Brewers. These are the hottest teams in baseball – the Peacock broadcast last night called the Red Sox white hot – and they are going to face off for three games. They can’t even split this one: one team will win the series and the other will lose it.
The Orioles start off the series by sending a Shane against Boston. This strategy was just tried
by the Tampa Bay Rays and didn’t work. Baz is leading the league in losses with 9 but that’s not because he’s been bad, he’s just been on the Orioles. He faced the Red Sox on June 2 and allowed 2 runs over 7.0 innings. But the early June Sox weren’t the July Sox. He’s facing Payton Tolle, the newlywed. Tolle finished the first half with a short day: 3.2 innings by design) striking out 7 Mets. The Sox would would that game in the 10th in dramatic fashion.
Righty Kyle Bradish, whom the Orioles just extended for 5 years, takes the mound Tuesday. Originally acquired for one-time phenom Dylan Bundy he’s been worth 9 bWAR for the O’s. He faced the Sox way back on April 26, the first game of the Chad Tracy era. He went 5.0 innings and allowed 3 runs in the loss. Bradish has been pretty good over the last few outings with only a 4-run, 4.0 inning outing against the Nationals as a blemish. The Sox are still TBD at the time of this writing but it’s likely that Ranger Suarez will come off the IL to face the Orioles. The other option, provided he doesn’t pitch in Monday’s game is Brayan Bello.
The finale features Dan Kremer. Three righties in a row means the Orioles probably have to face Masa, who has been pretty hot himself. Kremer missed all of May and June and returned in July. This is his fourth start back. In 15 innings he’s allowed 5 home runs, 7 runs, 5 walks, and struck out 14. He’s gone as high as 92 pitches deep. It’s been mixed. The Orioles held the Astros to 2 runs but Kremer allowed both over his 4.0 innings. It’s too soon to know if he’s finding a groove but there could be an opportunity to do some damage. Boston closes it with Jake Bennett. What is there to say? This trade looks outstanding. Scoreless his last 13 innings. Handling good offenses like Tampa, the White Sox, and the Yankees? He’s been worth 1.5 bWAR in 9 starts. Sonny Gray is in the midst of Cy Young consideration and over 17 starts has been about 2.6 bWAR. Bennett is more than hanging around, he’s claimed a rotation spot.
Pete Alonso has hit 21 home runs.
Taylor Ward leads the league in batter walks with 77. His career high had been 75 last season in 157 games.
Gunnar Henderson is slashing just .219/.288/.394
As of Monday morning the O’s are 2.0 games out of the third Wild Card, behind Boston and Seattle.
Probable Pitching Matchups
Monday, July 20: Shane Baz (4.19 ERA / 3.59 FIP) vs. Payton Tolle (3.11 ERA /3.23 FIP)
Tuesday, July 21: Kyle Bradish (3.61 ERA / 4.01 FIP) vs. TBD (— ERA / — FIP)
Wednesday, July 22: Dean Kremer (4.15 ERA / 6.18 FIP) vs. Jake Bennett (2.35 ERA / 3.03 FIP)
When/Where to Watch
Monday, July 20: 7:10 PM ET on NESN
Tuesday, July 21: 7:10 PM ET on NESN
Wednesday, July 19: 7:10 PM ET on NESN
