Boston @ Baltimore preview

Last Meeting ( Sep 27, 2011 ) Boston 8, Baltimore 7

THE STORY: Jon Lester started the season opener for the Boston Red Sox. Now the team can only hope he doesn’t start the season-ender. The visiting Red Sox square off with the Baltimore Orioles in Wednesday’s regular-season finale knowing they have zero margin of error if they want to prolong their year. Boston is tied with Tampa Bay for the wild card, and it’s hard to imagine the Rays losing with the opposing New York Yankees having yet to name a starter. Lester has history on his side: He’s 14-0 in 17 starts against the Orioles – the most wins by any active pitcher vs. one team. Yet he’s lost three straight starts and will be part of history if Boston becomes the first team to fail to make the postseason after leading by nine games in September.

TV: 7:05 p.m. ET, ESPN, MASN (Baltimore)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Red Sox LH Jon Lester (15-9, 3.49 ERA) vs. Orioles RH Alfredo Simon (4-9, 4.85 ERA).

Lester was shellacked in his last outing, getting pelted by the New York Yankees for eight runs on eight hits in a season-low 2 2/3 innings. Unfortunately for Boston, it wasn't an aberration from his recent performances. Lester has been roughed up for 16 runs in 13 2/3 innings during his three-game skid and continues to struggled with his control, walking eight batters in that span. Although he's pitching on three days' rest for the second time in his career, he threw only 55 pitchers in Saturday’s horror show at Yankee Stadium.

Simon enters the season finale winless since August 23. He's 0-3 in his last six starts, although each outing has come against a playoff contender. A converted reliever after notching 17 saves last year, Simon pitched well last time out, allowing three runs on six hits in a season high-tying eight innings against Detroit. He has made one start in seven career appearances against Boston, going 0-1 with a 5.59 ERA. Jacoby Ellsbury is 3-for-3 with a double and triple against him.

ABOUT THE RED SOX (90-71): In his first major league game behind the plate, rookie catcher Ryan Lavarnway clubbed two home runs to stake Boston to a pair of four-run leads in Tuesday’s 8-7, teeth-gnashing victory. Middle reliever Alfredo Aceves has been a savior. Pitching for the third straight day, he turned in 3 2/3 innings of stellar relief to improve to 10-2 this season and 24-3 in his career. Jacoby Ellsbury extended his hitting streak to 12 games with a two-run homer. He has hit safely in 30 of his last 31 games overall and has a 35-game streak against the Orioles. Marco Scutaro also homered and has 21 RBIs this month.

ABOUT THE ORIOLES (68-93): Baltimore continued to abuse Boston’s pitching staff Tuesday. The Orioles have scored 41 runs in six meetings between the teams in the last nine days. Matt Wieters homered for the second straight night and had three RBIs and Adam Jones also had a pair of hits and went deep. Vlad Guerrero continued his late-season surge with three hits, including an RBI double. He is batting .353 (49-for-139) in his last 35 games. Right fielder Nick Markakis made a spectacular diving catch with the bases loaded to save at least two runs. He also doubled to extend his hitting streak to eight games.

FINAL PITCH: Boston’s starting pitching has been beyond brutal, pitching to a 7.28 ERA in the last 23 games. If the Red Sox and Rays wind up tied, they will play a one-game playoff Thursday in Tampa Bay at 4:07 p.m. ET.