Red Sox series

[Just Regular]

Like Mike Elias crafting a path of gradually increasing difficulty for a prospect, now BOS follows OAK-CHW-WAS-DET.    Like CHW, BOS is not obviously punting, but I do think its in play both those teams could have a tough year.

The least favorable length pitcher matchup of the series leads it off (Parens are the Rank in K-BB% among AL starters YTD)

(64) Kremer vs. (13) Sale

(28) Bradish vs. (61) Kluber

(37) Wells vs. (46) Houck

The Red Sox are coming off a nice road series win in Milwaukee, where they took the Freddy Peralta and Corbin Burnes games, but were beaten by Wade Miley.   

Masataka Yoshida had a big breakout game that series, and Verdugo and Turner leading the team in PA are combining for a near .400 OBP to help keep Rafael Devers (256/299/600) in even more RBI's than Ryan Mountcastle.

Sale was dominant his last turn, and Walltimore figures to help with the 5 HR in 18 innings inflating his ERA to 8.00 for the moment.

 

 

[Frobby]

I’m nervous about the Orioles’ bats in this series.  Boston isn’t a great team, but they’re significantly better than the teams we’ve been playing, and we already lost a series to them.  They’re 7-3 in their last 10 and won all three series they played in that span.  I think this will be a real watershed series for us, defending our home turf against an AL East foe.  

[Moose Milligan]

We lost a series to them because Ryan McKenna forgot Little League basics. 
 

Buck up, @Frobby, we can’t have you dragging this negative energy into the series. 

[Frobby]

Who’s negative?  We definitely can win this series.  I’m just saying it’s important and the Red Sox aren’t pushovers.  

[DirtyBird]

We haven't been hitting well lately. We will probably get swept unless our pitching only allows 1 run/game.

[Moose Milligan]

29 minutes ago, Frobby said:

Who’s negative?  We definitely can win this series.  I’m just saying it’s important and the Red Sox aren’t pushovers.  

You know I'm just giving you a hard time.

[TommyPickles]

Kluber has been terrible. We knocked him around for 5 runs in 3.1 IP on Opening Day. He's pretty much continued to look bad ever since (8.50 ERA through 4 starts).

The Red Sox pitching has been bad. Their team ERA of 5.10 is 26th in MLB. Their starters rank 29th with a 6.61 ERA.

I'm just not at all convinced that this is a good team. I predicted them to finish in last place and well below .500 at the start of the year and I still stand by that. I don't think they're an awful team, but I think they'll wind up winning like 75 games.

I think the O's bats will wake back up against the bad pitching and they'll take 2 out of 3.

[Moose Milligan]

2 minutes ago, TommyPickles said:

Kluber has been terrible. We knocked him around for 5 runs in 3.1 IP on Opening Day. He's pretty much continued to look bad ever since (8.50 ERA through 4 starts).

The Red Sox pitching has been bad. Their team ERA of 5.10 is 26th in MLB. Their starters rank 29th with a 6.61 ERA.

I'm just not at all convinced that this is a good team. I predicted them to finish in last place and well below .500 at the start of the year and I still stand by that. I don't think they're an awful team, but I think they'll wind up winning like 75 games.

I think the O's bats will wake back up against the bad pitching and they'll take 2 out of 3.

I like where your head is at, except our bats have been a bit cold.  Kluber has been terrible and I don't think that changes but I think Sale is dangerous and can reach into the wayback machine and deliver a vintage start.

It's not their pitching that worries me, it's the fact that they can score some runs.  They're third in the AL (we're 4th) at 5.74 runs per game.  Duvall is out and that helps since he was a thorn in our side during the opening series.  They're still that annoying offense that can take pitches, work the count and get into a bullpen.

To your point, it's not a good team, I agree with you there.  But to me, they're still dangerous.  

[interloper]

We tend to score runs in games against the Red Sox, so I'm bullish on our offense returning to form. I'm less confident in the starting pitching and bullpen continuing its current pace, but it must be said that we're in much better shape coming into this series than we were earlier in the year. 

[Mooreisbetter27]

At least George Herman Duvall won't be playing.  

[StottyByNature]

We need the bats to wake up this series, the pitching can't keep this rate up.  Specifically it is time for Santander and Henderson to start pulling their weight.  Hopefully it starts this week.

[Aristotelian]

Big series to show we can beat divisional .500+ teams as well as the low tier teams. I'd be happy with 2-1 although my 15-0 prediction on the 15 game thread is still on the table. 

Yoshida looked really good against us, then cooled off. Will be interesting to see how he does.

Beating Sale would be big, I don't trust his current inflated ERA. He had a Good-Chris Sale line against a tough team last time out so that is what I would expect.

[Just Regular]

Opponent cycling out yesterday's struggling length pitcher for a 30-something lefty reliever from AAA with 2 career innings in case Brandon Hyde dares pinch hit Gunnar Henderson for James McCann or something.

The nice thing about an indistinct SP5 is you can get that 9th reliever many days.

[Sanfran327]

Game 1 to the good guys. My new favorite win of the year, supplanting the White Sox comeback that was actually very similar to this one. 

Nobody would admit it publicly at this time of year, but you saw it all on the field tonight: both teams wanted this one pretty badly as the game rolled on. 

Fantastic win. Baltimore baseball is fun again. 

[Moose Milligan]

Orioles didn’t strike out tonight. 
 

Can’t remember the last time that happened.