The O’s open up a three-game set against the Red Sox with Dean Kremer on the mound.
Times are good in Birdland! The Orioles are winners of six in a row, which has them sitting in second place of the competitive AL East. The Red Sox find themselves at the bottom of the division, but they enter this series in fine form, 7-3 in their last 10, back above .500, and featuring one of the junior circuit’s better lineups.
This will be the second time these two teams have faced off in the season’s first month. They opened the campaign up against one another. Of course, the Orioles won on Opening Day, but some farcical fielding on their part cost them the series overall. Hopefully things are different this time around.
Dean Kremer faces an important test here. The Orioles’ best pitcher a season ago, Kremer has been challenged thus far. But he looked better last week against the Nationals, featuring a fastball with a little extra oomph behind it. We will see if that plays against an offense that has seen success early on.
Chris Sale was torched by these Orioles three weeks ago (3 IP, 7 R, 7 H, 2 BB, 6 SO), but has since been better. His most recent outing came against the Twins on April 18. On that day he struck out 11 and allowed just one run over six innings, so he may not be washed just yet.
Regardless, this will be the most stout opponent the Orioles have faced since taking on the Yankees a few weeks ago. The bats may need to come out of their recent hibernation if they hope to extend their current winning streak.
Orioles Starting Lineup
- Austin Hays, LF
- Adley Rutschman, DH
- Ryan Mountcastle, 1B
- Anthony Santander, RF
- Ramón Urías, 3B
- James McCann, C
- Cedric Mullins, CF
- Jorge Mateo, SS
- Adam Frazier, 2B
Dean Kremer, RHP (1-0, 6.16 ERA)
Red Sox Starting Lineup
- Alex Verdugo, RF
- Rafael Devers, 3B
- Justin Turner, DH
- Masataka Yoshida, LF
- Kiké Hernández, 2B
- Triston Casa, 1B
- Jarren Duran, CF
- Connor Wong, C
- Yu Chang, SS
Chris Sale, LHP (1-1, 8.00 ERA)