Saturday night Orioles game thread: vs Red Sox, 7:05 pm

My dream of the Orioles sweeping the Red Sox into the basement of the A.L. East was dashed when the Red Sox defeated the Orioles 3-1 last night, but the series is still up for grabs! It’ll be a tough task with Nathan Eovaldi on the mound for the Red Sox. Eovaldi has had a lot of success against the Orioles and is the best pitcher they’ll face in the series.

The Orioles, meanwhile, are on a five-game losing streak and the good pitching they had shown in the first few weeks of the season has started to crack. Enter Spenser Watkins, whose 2.77 ERA over three starts this year is encouraging.

Less encouraging is that 4.94 FIP. He only has five strikeouts in three starts and has walked seven. That’s a trend that will need to change if he wants to sustain his success. We’ll just have to wait and see if he can continue to defy expectations. I sure hope so!

Trey Mancini is getting a night off with Tyler Nevin in the DH spot. It makes an already paltry lineup look even worse. Just don’t even look beyond number four.

Orioles Lineup

1. Cedric Mullins (L) CF

2. Anthony Santander (S) RF

3. Ryan Mountcastle (R) 1B

4. Austin Hays (R) LF

5. Rougned Odor (L) 2B

6. Ramon Urias (R) 3B

7. Tyler Nevin (R) DH

8. Robinson Chirinos (R) C

9. Chris Owings (R) SS

SP: Spenser Watkins (RHP)

Red Sox Lineup

1. Trevor Story (R) 2B

2. Rafael Devers (L) 3B

3. Xander Bogaerts (R) SS

4. Alex Verdugo (L) LF

5. Enrique Hernandez (R) CF

6. Christian Arroyo (R) DH

7. Jackie Bradley Jr. (L) RF

8. Bobby Dalbec (R) 1B

9. Kevin Plawecki (R) C

SP: Nathan Eovaldi (RHP)

Let’s go O’s!