Boston @ Baltimore preview

Last Meeting ( Aug 11, 2018 ) Boston 6, Baltimore 4

With their lead in the American League East seemingly growing by the day, perhaps the only suspense left for the Boston Red Sox over the remainder of the regular season is which of their top two hitters will take home the AL MVP. Mookie Betts hopes to bounce back from a slow day at the plate by his lofty standards while J.D. Martinez attempts to continue his season-long domination of the host Baltimore Orioles on Sunday when the Red Sox look to complete a four-game sweep.

Betts, who entered Saturday's doubleheader with 11 hits in 20 at-bats and 11 runs scored over his last five contests, only scored once in Saturday's doubleheader sweep but maintained his major league-leading .351 batting average with a combined 3-for-9 effort. Martinez, who trails only Betts in the majors with a .332 average, made up for a hitless performance in the matinee with two homers and three RBIs in the nightcap to increase his major league-leading totals to 37 and 104, respectively, in a 6-4 victory. Boston (84-35) improved to 13-2 against the Orioles this season and 42-15 inside the division, bumping its advantage over the New York Yankees in the East to 9 1/2 games. Trey Mancini went 4-for-7 with a home run and two RBIs in the doubleheader and is batting .375 during a six-game hitting streak.

TV: 1:05 p.m. ET, NESN (Boston), MASN 2 (Baltimore)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Red Sox LH Chris Sale (11-4, 2.04 ERA) vs. Orioles RH Alex Cobb (3-14, 5.55)

Sale will return from the disabled list in hopes he can extend a 19-inning scoreless streak over his last three outings - a stretch during which he allowed 14 baserunners and struck out 31. The 29-year-old is 6-0 with a 0.69 ERA over his last eight turns and has given up more than one run only once over that span. Sale's dominant stretch began in Baltimore on June 13 when he permitted one run over six frames to improve to 5-1 with a 2.18 ERA in 10 appearances (seven starts) at Camden Yards.

Cobb lowered his ERA by more than a run over his last five starts and has been particularly stingy in August, going 1-0 with a 1.38 ERA while holding a pair of division rivals to one run. The Boston native ended a seven-game personal losing streak with six strong innings against the New York Yankees on Aug. 1 and followed it up with seven more solid frames Tuesday at Tampa Bay. Cobb has surrendered 11 runs (10 earned) on 20 hits over 10 innings while going 1-1 against the Red Sox this year.

WALK-OFFS

1. Martinez is batting .345 with nine homers and 18 RBIs in 15 games against Baltimore this season.

2. Orioles OF Cedric Mullins is 4-for-9 with three walks, two RBIs and three runs scored over his first three major-league contests.

3. Boston is a majors-best 29-5 in day games.

PREDICTION: Red Sox 7, Orioles 1