It’s the conclusion of a weekend series on the diamond between a pair of AL East teams on the outside of the playoff picture in Charm City. The Boston Red Sox are on the road as they finish up a three-game set with the Baltimore Orioles Sunday afternoon. In the opening game of the series Friday night, Baltimore rallied to pick up a 3-2 victory to bounce back from a rough series against Toronto. Will the Red Sox pick up the win here on getaway day or can the Orioles secure a series win by prevailing here? This article was published prior to the conclusion of the second game of the series at Oriole Park at Camden Yards Saturday afternoon.
Boston dropped their fourth straight game as they let a lead slip away to wind up with another one-run loss on the ledger. The Red Sox entered Saturday last in the AL East standings, 16 games behind the Yankees for the top spot in the division. They were 10.5 games behind the Mariners for the final wild card spot in the American League playoff picture. On Friday, Boston got three hits from Xander Bogaerts (run, two RBI) while Alex Verdugo and J.D. Martinez each had two hits in the loss. Bogaerts hit his 13th homer of the season but the Red Sox were one of 10 with runners in scoring position while leaving 10 runners on base. Brayan Bello (1-5) took the loss on the mound as he allowed three runs on three hits with four walks and seven strikeouts over 5.1 innings of work.
Rich Hill is on the hill as he makes his 22nd start of the season for the Red Sox in this contest. He comes in 6-6 with a 4.79 ERA, a 1.341 WHIP, 30 walks and 79 strikeouts over 97.2 innings of work this season. Hill took the loss in his previous start, which came Tuesday on the road against Tampa Bay. He threw four innings, allowing five runs on nine hits with one walk and three strikeouts in a game the Red Sox lost by an 8-4 count. In his last three starts, Hill is 1-1 with a 5.40 ERA, a 1.53 WHIP, six walks and 16 strikeouts over 15 innings of work. Hill makes his 18th career appearance and eighth start against the Orioles in this contest. He comes in 3-1 with a 3.15 ERA, a 1.025 WHIP, 18 walks and 41 strikeouts over 40 innings against them. Hill is 2-0 with a 6.16 ERA, a 1.605 WHIP, 22 walks and 30 strikeouts over 38 innings in 14 career appearances, nine starts, at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.