Orioles @ Red Sox Preview: The Os Look To Recover From Big Loss

With the start of the postseason a little over a month away, the Boston Red Sox probability of going to the playoffs is pretty high, higher than any other team in the American League, in fact.  While the Red Sox definitely do not want to start losing games with a lot of baseball left to play this month, they are not facing the same amount of pressure as the Baltimore Orioles.

The Os making a playoff run is questionable.  The Os are battling for a coveted wildcard playoff spot and currently sit in fourth in the wildcard rankings.  They are 3.5 games behind with the Cleveland Indians, Oakland Athletics and Tampa Bay Rays ahead of them.  The Rays and As currently hold the AL wildcard spots, respectively.  It is at the point in the season where every single game matters for Baltimore and they have to start winning, which is something they could not pull of in a series opener against the Red Sox yesterday.

Shane Victorino was the star of the game as he smashed two homers and a ground-rule double, finishing the game with four runs and seven RBIs.

It was not even a close game as the Red Sox only went three innings without scoring a run and scored a whopping five runs in the fourth alone, to win the game 12-2.  It was a crushing defeat for the Os, especially considering they only have 29 games left to secure a playoff spot.  It is a loss that they are going to have to immediately bounce back from.

It is going to be an uphill battle for Baltimore as Boston’s starting pitching rotation sports a 2.75 ERA over their last 16 games.  Today it will be John Lackey who takes the mound for Boston.

Lackey sports a solid 3.17 overall ERA, however the last five times he has stepped on the mound the Red Sox have been shutout.  It is not Lackey’s fault as in his last outing he pitched eight innings and only allowed two runs against the San Francisco Giants.  He simply gets no run support when he starts.

The Os will counter with Bud Norris, who turned in his worst start since joining the Os in his last outing.  He exited the game unceremoniously during the fifth inning after loading the bases against Oakland.  He will be looking to bounce back in this game.

The Red Sox are the favorites according to Bovada with a moneyline of -170.  To bet on Baltimore the line is set at +150.  The game starts at 7:10 p.m. ET.