The Boston Red Sox and the Baltimore Orioles meet in an AL East division matchup in MLB action from Camden Yards on Friday night.
The Boston Red Sox will look to rebound after failing to complete the sweep after their 8-2 loss to Pittsburgh in their last outing. Xander Bogaerts has 127 hits, a .303 batting average and 31 doubles while Rafael Devers has 122 hits with 32 doubles. Alex Verdugo has 7 home runs and 56 RBIs while Devers has a team-high 25 home runs and 63 RBIs. J.D. Martinez also has 34 doubles, a .273 batting average and 46 RBIs this year and Trevor Story has 58 RBIs as well for Boston. Kutter Crawford will start here and is 3-4 with a 4.18 ERA and 65 strikeouts this season.
The Baltimore Orioles will hope to bounce back after their loss in their one game set against the Chicago Cubs by a final count of 3-2 last time out. Anthony Santander has a team-high 20 home runs and 62 RBIs. Austin Hays also has 101 hits with 26 doubles, 49 RBIs and a .263 batting average as well on the year. Cedric Mullins also has 119 hits with 26 doubles, 11 homers and 49 RBIs as well this season. Ryan Mountcastle also has 16 home runs and 58 RBIs as well this season. Jordan Lyles will start here and is 9-9 with a 4.48 ERA and 114 strikeouts this season.
Boston is 5-2 in their las t7 games overall and 31-15 in their last 46 Friday games while the under is 4-0 in their last 4 games against a team with a winning record. Baltimore is 7-2 in their last 9 series-opening games and 20-8 in their last 28 games against a team with a winning record while the under is 4-0 in their last 4 games against a team with a right-handed starter.
I get the case to be made for either side here, but I’m leaning towards the Orioles here as I just don’t want any part of the Red Sox and I feel that the disrespect towards the Orioles is just continuing here as the books still aren’t taking the Orioles seriously. I think this is a spot where Baltimore shows up and gets themselves a big win after they kind of got caught with their pants down against the Cubs. Give me the Orioles in a bit of a statement win here.