Major League Baseball

Red Sox, Orioles gear up for critical four-game series

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 10:36 p.m. ET

share

facebookxredditlink

foxsports

The Boston Red Sox and Baltimore Orioles begin a critical four-game series Monday at Camden Yards that will help decide the American League East crown.

Boston comes off its first sweep of the rival New York Yankees in a series of four or more games in 26 years since June 4-7, 1990. The Red Sox now lead the division by three games and can further distance themselves from the Orioles, who split a four-game with the last-place Tampa Bay Rays over the weekend.

"I know our guys are going to be ready and I know Boston is going to be ready," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. "They're in a good spot. We knew coming out of spring training after watching all the things they did in the offseason they were going to be one of the favorites going in."

With a young group of players in place like Mookie Betts, Xander Bogaerts and Jackie Bradley Jr., the Red Sox have appeared re-energized in the second half of the season. Boston has managed several come-from-behind victories over the past month and that has only boosted its confidence.

"It's really fun to be a part of," Boston reliever Matt Barnes. "This is a team that we've gone through struggles, not too many, but we know the capability of this team. This team never gives up. You kind of know from start to finish it never stops."

The Orioles will try to set the tone for the series with Dylan Bundy (9-5, 3.88 ERA) in the opener. Bundy has been one of the anchors of the rotation since being named a starter earlier in the season. In his last outing, Bundy picked up the win against the Red Sox when he allowed three runs on six hits over 51/3 innings.

Baltimore might have caught a break with the return of Darren O'Day, who was reinstated Sunday from 15-day disabled list after recovering from a right shoulder rotator cuff strain. O'Day, the Orioles' setup man, pitched for the first time since Aug. 11 against the Rays and allowed a home run to Corey Dickerson on his first pitch.

"It was awesome to be back," O'Day said. "Be able to help the guys out They've been having a heavy workload down there. So to take one inning it's helpful. Obviously the day was made even better by the win at the end there. It was a good day."

Boston will counter with Rick Porcello (20-4, 3.12 ERA), who leads the American League in wins. Porcello lost his last outing against Baltimore 1-0 when he allowed a homer to Mark Trumbo in the second inning. That allowed the Orioles to take the key three-game series.

While Boston sits atop the division, manager John Farrell expects his team to be in a fight to the final day of the season, especially with the amount of talent in the division. The Toronto Blue Jays are also within striking distance of the division lead.

"We don't anticipate anything different from here all the way out," Farrell said. "This is going to be a hard-fought division right to the final game of the season. We fully embrace it. We fully expect it and we're looking forward to the challenges ahead."

share

Get more from Major League Baseball Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more

in this topic

Major League Baseball