:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/60579879/usa-today-8513284.0.0.0.jpg)
The Orioles get their first shot of the year at division-leading Boston. If they happen to win tonight and tomorrow then it will be the Red Sox who have to get more shots at the first place Orioles. The Sox are 6-3. The Orioles are 5-4. The places in the standings can change in a hurry this early in the season.
No one game matters all that much. Still, it would be nice if this were a good game. Most important to the O's would be if Ubaldo Jimenez can continue to look like a major league starting pitcher. He did so before against a Blue Jays lineup that's not full of slouches. The Boston lineup is also not full of slouches. So, you know. We'll see.
Strikeout master Chris Davis has been bumped down to fifth in the order against Sox righty Joe Kelly, who has not been a strikeout master in his career to date. In 96.1 innings last year, Kelly struck out 66 batters - which is not the number zero, but that's not a pitcher who relies heavily on strikeouts. As Kelly was in the NL for his career before the trade to Boston last year, nobody on the Orioles has seen much of him. What will happen tonight? Nobody knows! But hopefully it's good for the O's.