Ladies and gentlemen, it’s go time.
The Orioles and Red Sox square off at Fenway Park tonight for the opener of what’s become a crucially important three-game series. The O’s have won seven games in a row entering the night, while the Red Sox boast a 13-game winning streak. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, it’s only the fifth time since 1961 that two teams with 7+ game winning streaks have gone head-to-head. They can’t both keep them going. Something will have to give.
The pessimist in me says
there’s no way that the Orioles, despite their recent surge, can take down the scalding hot Red Sox, especially with so many key hitters out of action. Blaze Alexander is on the IL and won’t return for weeks. Samuel Basallo is out of the lineup after leaving Sunday’s game early with a right shoulder injury. And Adley Rutschman is the latest member of the walking wounded, landing on the 10-day injured list earlier today with left wrist inflammation. It’s Rutschman’s third IL stint of the year, which is really putting a damper on his otherwise resurgent season at the plate. For now, the O’s will have to rely on a catching tandem of Sam Huff and newly recalled Chadwick Tromp until Basallo is ready to return. It’s not pretty.
The Orioles’ lineup against lefty Payton Tolle in the opener is unconventional, to say the least. With lefty swingers Basallo, Jackson Holliday, and Colton Cowser on the bench, it’s a right-handed heavy lineup that features Tyler O’Neill, Coby Mayo, Jeremiah Jackson, and Christian Encarnacion-Strand. And for the O’s fans who have been complaining about the struggling Gunnar Henderson always batting first or second, don’t worry, he’s been moved down…to third. Not exactly a solution to the problem, there. Pete Alonso will bat second for the first time as an Oriole; his previous 100 starts had all been batting third or cleanup.
Shane Baz will make his first start of the second half for the Orioles. He’s been perfectly fine for the Birds, with a basically league-average 101 ERA+, but I feel like he hasn’t yet delivered an especially memorable, signature outing. Tonight would be the perfect time to do so.
Here goes nothing.
Orioles lineup:
LF Taylor Ward
1B Pete Alonso
SS Gunnar Henderson
RF Tyler O’Neill
DH Coby Mayo
CF Leody Taveras
2B Jeremiah Jackson
3B Christian Encarnacion-Strand
C Sam Huff
RHP Shane Baz
Red Sox lineup:
2B Anthony Seigler
CF Ceddanne Rafaela
RF Wilyer Abreu
1B Willson Contreras
DH Masataka Yoshida
3B Caleb Durbin
LF Jarren Duran
C Connor Wong
SS Tsung-Che Cheng
LHP Payton Tolle
