Orioles Magic

Friday, April 17 - Monday, April 20

Baltimore Orioles (6-3) at Boston Red Sox (3-6)

Pitching Matchups

Friday: BAL - Jeremy Guthrie (2-0, 2.25)
BOS - Brad Penny (1-0, 4.50)

Saturday: BAL - Adam Eaton (0-1, 9.00)
BOS - Josh Beckett (1-1, 3.46)

Sunday: BAL - Koji Uehara (2-0, 7.20)
BOS - John Lester (0-2, 9.00)

Monday: BAL - Mark Hendrickson (1-1, 3.00)
BOS - Justin Masterson (1-1, 4.50)

The Orioles won their third consecutive series to open the season, improving to 6-3. Through the first nine games the Orioles have followed the same pattern. Win the first two games of a series, get shellacked in the third. Despite their 6-3 start, the O's are -13 in run differential, showing that the pitching is still not what the Orioles need it to be.

They head to Boston to take on the Red Sox, who have also gotten off to a surprising start, except in a negative way. The Red Sox come into the series 3-6 and in last place in the AL East. The Red Sox offense is performing poorly, they are currently 12th in the American League with a .242 batting average. 1B Kevin Youkilis and LF Jason Bay are the only two that are really hitting the ball well for them. Reigning AL MVP 2B Dustin Pedroia is hitting just .179, and DH David "Big Papi" Ortiz is hitting .176, with 0 HRs and 3 RBIs.

The O's continue to hit the ball well to open the season, Brian Roberts, Nick Markakis, and Adam Jones are all on a tear. It hurt the O's to put Melvin More on the 15-day DL as he had also gotten off to a hot start. The pitching is pretty much atrocious right now, with only Jeremy Guthrie being a truly reliable starter.

Unfortunately, the O's probably won't be able to avoid Red Sox P Josh Beckett, who has appealed his suspension and is scheduled to pitch Saturday. This series could be a great confidence booster for Baltimore if they can play well. I hope they can at least get a split of this 4 game set.