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Friday, 26 July: John Lackey vs. Chris Tillman
| Career Numbers | Tillman vs. Red Sox | Lackey vs. O's |
|---|---|---|
| IP | 36.1 | 136.0 |
| ERA | 2.48 | 3.31 |
| FIP | 3.08 | 3.19 |
| Slash Line (Past Teams) | .234/.310/.285 | .265/.310/.372 |
| Slash Line (Current Players) | .228/.311/.266 | .276/.317/.354 |
Tillman gets the nod in game 1 and is coming off of a great 8 inning performance against Texas. He possesses solid numbers again the Red Sox, but has only pitched 36.1 innings. Those innings came over 7 starts, so he's averaging just over 5 innings per start each time he faces the Red Sox. His 25:16 K/BB ratio probably doesn't help, but he's been awfully inefficient. Additionally, he has yet to allow a homer against the Sox.
Over his career, Lackey has racked up 136 innings against the Baltimore Orioles. A fun note about his stats against the O's is that he's basically split evenly no matter where he pitches. He's pitched in 20 games overall against Baltimore: 10 at OPACY and 10 in other parks. He has been the winning pitcher in 12 of the 20 games.
Maybe hot: Nick Markakis (.898 OPS, 51 PA)
Maybe not: Adam Jones (.476 OPS, 21 PA)
Saturday, 27July: Scott Feldman vs. Ryan Dempster
| Career Numbers | Feldman vs. Red Sox | Dempster vs. O's |
|---|---|---|
| IP | - | 26.0 |
| ERA | - | 1.73 |
| FIP | - | 4.60 |
| Slash Line (Past Teams) | - | .161/.250/.301 |
| Slash Line (Current Players) | .410/.431/1.103 | .183/.277/.317 |
The newest member of the Oriole rotation, Scott Feldman, will make his first career start against the Boston Red Sox on Saturday night. The numbers you see against current players are not good, but it's a very small sample. One should note that Mike Napoli has absolutely torched Feldman in 21 PA.
Ryan Dempster will make just his second career start at Camden Yards. He's faced the Orioles four times, totaling 26 innings. He isn't a big strikeout guy and has nearly as many walks (10) as strikeouts (17) when facing the O's. Just those who have extensive time in the NL have faced Dempster before in any significant quantity. Nate McLouth (.896 OPS) has been solid. J.J. Hardy (.247 OPS, 35 PA) has been owned.
Sunday, 28 July: Jason Hammel vs. Jon Lester
| Career Numbers | Hammel vs. Red Sox | Lester vs. O's |
|---|---|---|
| IP | 33.2 | 138.1 |
| ERA | 4.81 | 2.86 |
| FIP | 3.37 | 3.50 |
| Slash Line (Past Teams) | .295/.367/.419 | .256/.319/.382 |
| Slash Line (Current Players) | .342/.443/.466 | .248/.310/.393 |
Hammel's raw numbers against the Boston Red Sox for his career are not good through 33+ innings. Additionally, he's been pretty abysmal this season in general, currently posting career-highs in both ERA and FIP (for his days as a starter.....this does not include relief appearances). Three of the four Red Sox with more than 10 PA against Hammel have posted an OPS greater than 1.000 (ouch!).
Jon Lester is a familiar foe for the Orioles and carries great career numbers. He's got a record of 7-1 at OPACY, which includes a 2.99 ERA. He has not been great overall over the last year and a half, but he's coming off of one of his best starts this season. In total, he's 14-2 against the Orioles.