Baltimore @ Boston preview
Fenway Park
Last Meeting ( Aug 29, 2013 ) Baltimore 3, Boston 2
The Boston Red Sox eliminated one American League East rival from the division race over the weekend and can do the same to the Baltimore Orioles on Tuesday with a win in the opener of a three-game home set. Boston is coming off a three-game sweep of the New York Yankees and has won 17 of 21 overall to take a 9 ½-game lead in the division. As a result of their recent surge, the Red Sox – who own the majors’ best record at 92-59 – have lowered their magic number to clinch the East to four.
Baltimore – which trails Tampa Bay by 2 ½ games in the AL wild-card race and Boston by 12 in the division – was only 5 ½ games out of first place in the East before losing two of three at Boston in late August. Although the Orioles hold a 7-6 advantage in the season series, they have dropped four of their last five against the Red Sox. The offense has fallen flat in those five contests, scoring no more than three runs in any of those games after doing so five times over the first eight meetings.
TV: 7:10 p.m. ET, MLB Network, MASN (Baltimore), NESN (Boston)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Orioles RH Scott Feldman (12-10, 3.54 ERA) vs. Red Sox RH Ryan Dempster (8-9, 4.70)
Feldman surrendered two homers for the first time since joining Baltimore in early July, which turned out to be the difference in Wednesday’s 5-4 setback against the Yankees. The Hawaii native, who yielded only one other hit over 7 2/3 innings in the loss, is 3-1 with a 1.77 ERA over his last six outings and has logged at least seven frames in each of his last three starts. Feldman also took the loss in his last start against Boston on July 27, giving up four runs over five innings.
While his counterpart has not struggled to go deep into games, Dempster has completed seven innings only once since June 14. The 36-year-old offset five walks by striking out seven in Wednesday’s 7-3 win at Tampa, allowing a run on four hits to improve to 3-1 since the All-Star break despite a 5.68 ERA. Dempster’s first victory over that nine-start stretch came against Feldman and the Orioles, against whom he is 2-1 with a 2.01 ERA – his lowest mark against any AL opponent.
WALK-OFFS
1. Boston’s league-best offense is averaging 8.3 runs over the last 11 games.
2. Baltimore is batting .215 with runners in scoring position in the 20 games since these teams last met.
3. Red Sox 1B Mike Napoli is 11-for-26 (.423) with two homers and six RBIs lifetime against Feldman.
PREDICTION: Red Sox 5, Orioles 4