Orioles at Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox created a spark with a comeback victory last time out and hope to ignite their first winning streak of the season when they host the struggling Baltimore Orioles on Friday for the opener of their four-game series. The Red Sox trailed by five runs early against Toronto on Thursday and entered the ninth inning down by one before rallying for a 7-6 victory to avoid losing their fourth straight series.
Rafael Devers singled home the winning run and has collected four hits in his last two games to give Boston three regulars batting at least .270 as he joined J.D. Martinez (hits in 12 of 13 games) and Mitch Moreland, who has homered in four straight contests in which he had an official at-bat. Eduardo Rodriguez will try to begin changing the trend after two rough outings when he takes the mound for the Red Sox in the series opener as the Orioles counter with David Hess, who has producd one good start and one poor one thus far in 2019. Baltimore has lost seven of its last eight games after a 4-1 start, giving up 31 runs while dropping the past three, and slugger Chris Davis has gone 0-for-32 this season to extend his major-league record to 53 at-bats without a hit. “It is what it is,” Davis told the Baltimore Sun. “The more I try to go out there and do, or the more I try to shoulder this all by myself, the harder it gets. I have to trust the process, I have to trust the work I’m putting in. At some point, it’s going to turn around.”
TV: 7:10 p.m. ET, MASN (Baltimore), NESN (Boston)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Orioles RH David Hess (1-1, 2.70 ERA) vs. Red Sox LH Eduardo Rodriguez (0-2, 12.38)
Hess suffered the loss against the New York Yankees on Sunday, when he allowed four runs and five hits - three homers - in five innings after producing two solid outings to open the season. The 25-year-old Tennessean limited his first two opponents to one hit with 10 strikeouts over 8 1/3 scoreless frames. Martinez is 2-for-2 with a pair of homers and two walks versus Hess, who went 0-2 with an 11.25 ERA in two turns against Boston last year.
Rodriguez has played a big role in Boston's early pitching struggles by permitting 12 runs - 11 earned - over eight innings in his first two starts of 2019. The 26-year-old Venezuelan has struck out seven and walked six in the early going after registering 146 strikeouts and issuing just 45 free passes last year. Joey Rickard is 5-for-15 with a homer against Rodriguez, who went 3-0 with a 1.31 ERA in five games (three starts) versus Baltimore in 2018.
WALK-OFFS
1. Orioles 1B-OF-DH Trey Mancini has launched six homers in his last 11 games and leads the team with 12 RBIs.
2. Boston 2B Dustin Pedroia, who was limited to three games last season due to injuries, has notched hits in his first two contests of 2019.
3. Baltimore INF Jonathan Villar has hit safely in 11 of his first 13 games and driven in eight runs.