Friday night Orioles game thread: at Red Sox, 7:10

The Orioles and Red Sox, as members of the same division, played each other quite often in 2018. As you can imagine, the 47-win O’s did not fare well against the eventual World Series champions. The two sides met up 19 times last season, and the Boston boys came out on top on 16 of those occasions.

The current iteration of the Birds are on pace for 62 wins this year, a marked improvement despite historically low expectations. However, they are not exactly coming to Beantown on a hot streak. The O’s have lost three in a row and seven out of their last eight.

For their part, the Red Sox are also pretty awful at the moment. Their 4-9 record has them at the bottom of the AL East alongside the Toronto Blue Jays. But they have taken two of their last three and are way too talented to continue on their current trajectory.

Anything can happen in the bandbox that is Fenway Park. Trey Mancini might leave the park two or three times tonight. The Orioles pitchers may also rapidly accelerate their already epic rate of serving up home runs.

Should be a fun one, depending on your definition of the word “fun.”

Orioles lineup

1. Jonathan Villar, 2B
2. Joey Rickard, RF
3. Trey Mancini, 1B
4. Renato Núñez, DH
5. Dwight Smith Jr., LF
6. Hanser Alberto, 3B
7. Jesus Sucre, C
8. Richie Martin, SS
9. Cedric Mullins, CF

RHP David Hess

Red Sox lineup

1. Andrew Benintendi, LF
2. Mookie Betts, RF
3. Mitch Moreland, 1B
4. J.D. Martinez, DH
5. Xander Bogaerts, SS
6. Rafael Devers, 3B
7. Eduardo Núñez, 2B
8. Jackie Bradley Jr.
9. Christian Vázquez

LHP Eduardo Rodriguez